TL 1: Pressed
by VCRx
Summary: On the night of their anniversary, Percy goes missing. Contact with the outside world has been lost and the camp's borders have been locked down. When a ransom note is found and a new prophecy is proclaimed, Annabeth leads a quest to complete it. Meanwhile, Percy deals with his own problems... He just might be in the past?
1. Prologue

**-Part One: Pressed-**

 **The Time Locked Prophecy:**

 _Five shall dive into the depths of the maze,_

 _Led by the lights of the fallen sun's rays._

 _Flame and Shadows, united shall disperse,_

 _The mightiest of those who bring all curse._

 _Owl, Eagle & Dove, take flight to the keys,_

 _To the lost hero's mind, for when it bleeds._

 _Passed & returned. Another must reprimand,_

 _For all of those who had followed command._

 _Bring forth the tide, the shade must rise,_

 _Else Olympus shall meet, its final demise._

* * *

 **Prologue: Unknown**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the anything in PJO universe. Rights belong to Rick Riordan, and Disney Hyperion. This disclaimer will apply to all chapters of the story.**

 **Note: This story takes place about 2 weeks after the dreadful events of _Blood of Olympus._ This series completely ignores/overrides MCA  & ToA canon.**

 **Big Thanks to the Beta, SoulHorse! For always having my back on these stories. (And my grammar)**

 **Please Review! Fuel my inspiration with comments, flame, and what not. A simple 1-10 rating is more than I can ask for!**

* * *

The late evening's fog crawled up the hills, as the chill of Long Island Sound grew with the deepening of the night.

Little overcast could be viewed from above. Only a single island of clouds dampened the waning moon's light. Besides that, the sky was clear.

The heat of the warm summer day had retreated hours ago, leaving only the chill of growing night.

A night that seemed just as inconspicuous as the last.

Nothing could possible happen that was worth mentioning.

The campers were all silently asleep, safe in their cabins. The nightly patrols wandered, doing their normal routes to secure the camp that had never found itself at as much peace as this night.

Peleus calmly snored, at the bottom of the tallest tree. A large golden glow of a fleece dotted the top branch.

Then, there was a breeze. A rustle in the leaves.

The clouds rolled away, leaving the attentive moon's light to expose the grumbling darkness.

A shadow of a figure cursed, finding himself exposed.

Anxious to quicken pace, the figure shuffled his way silently towards the cabins.

There was a flutter.

The figure dodged behind a bush, in narrow avoidance, as one of the camp's harpies flapped by.

The figure understood that he could've easily defeated the pitiful creature, though it would have in no doubt caused a commotion. And the figure did not see the advantage of being discovered.

Secrets must stay – secret.

Besides, the camp would find it…uncharacteristic of him.

Something the figure could not risk happening.

As the horrendous bird-lady passed, the figure stood up from behind the brush.

No time like the present.

Silently, the figure approached his destination.

A long wooden cabin, whose shadows seemed to look upon him with distaste. The seashell lined roofing glared at him frowning. As if everything he was about to do was beyond their approval.

Such things should not be thought upon.

The figure approached taking the first steps that led to the rickety old building's lone entrance.

It wasn't the first time the figure had seen the structure, with its mossy marble columns and its sea themed design.

It would definitely not be his last.

The figure slipped up the steps, onto the front patio.

 _Creak._

The figure muttered a curse, once more.

The dam old floorboards always seemed to find the perfect time to open their little mouths. It was as if they were conscious enough to send a warning when a perpetrator was near.

The figure grimed in frustration, remembering how he had taken the _last_ demigod for granted.

That, would not happen again. The figure had learned much since that fateful day. Much, that he would have never had learned anywhere else.

He cannot not risk making the same mistakes again.

He would not make the same mistakes again.

Never again. Never again.

Never any mistakes again.

The figure stepped forwards, and pulled open the rust stained door that loosely guarded the interiors of Cabin Three.

The rusty hinges gave another loud creak that was sure to alert any occupants.

The figure starred in, with glowing eyes.

Despite that fact it was already hours past the camp's curfew, the cabin laid practically empty. Four bunks on either side, were all neatly made, and not a single person was in sight.

Not that the figure had expected to see any occupants…

The only sounds that could be heard besides his own breathing was the steady trickle of the cabin's fountain. A small reminder that this was the sea god's domain.

The figure grinned. Treachery and betrayal was best served when the other had no clue.

No idea. And the others would never suspect anything. Until it was too late.

Too late.

Left of the furthest most bunk, were the only signs of the lone occupant that occasionally made home here. A pile of belongings in no doubt to his mind, belonged to the infamous son of Poseidon. The hero of Olympus.

He chuckled to himself.

They would never suspect.

The figure had learned to be patient. Patience was key. The key, to everything.

Everything.

You just had to know when you had the right amount of it.

The figure had been planning this for quite some time.

But finally, in the past few days, everything seemingly was falling into place.

Now, it was finally time to start.

After plotting, for what has felt like eternity. Only he knew so well, it hasn't.

Just one more day, the figure told to himself.

Just one more day.

One more day.

All it takes is one day, to change everything.

* * *

 **How was that beginning? Meh? Good? Horrid? Mysterious? Please be honest, if you thought that sucked, go straight ahead and say it. Reviews = Updates**

 **Best Wishes, from a Junior Scribe of Camp Half-Blood,**

 **~VCRx**

 **A Beta Note From SoulHorse:**

 **Mmm…very interesting…I suspect that the figure is Percy, but why would he plot revenge against himself? Can't wait for the next chapter! :D And don't forget to RRFF! Until next time!**

 **~ Yours in demigoddishness, SoulHorse**

 **(Yayyy when without self-advertising!)**

 **[Last Edited: 10.27.2016]**


	2. 1: Annabeth

**Replies:**

 _Who is this mystery person? I'm a junior hour myself and I read this and got confused and it takes a lot to get me confused_ _ **–destiny . stiltner**_

GLAD you asked! That's the question I want people to start asking! Last chapter revealed a bit of the story's villain's actions. Sadly, this is a mystery, so I'll have to leave you guys to build up your various hypothesizes. Just know all the figure will be coming back! And he has plans to ruin everyone's day.

* * *

 **-Part One: Pressed-**

 **Chapter 1: Annabeth**

 **In the prologue, you met some of the more mysterious and psychological parts of the story. This one, I put some pointless romantic drama, because I was bored. Don't worry, stuff go back to normal next chappie.**

 **This chapter starts of the morning after the events of the prologue.**

* * *

"Sometimes Seaweed Brain, I seriously wonder how you're still in shape," Annabeth commented to a certain son of Poseidon as they strolled towards the Poseidon table, carrying their individual trays of breakfast. Ever since the war against the giants, Chiron had begun to allow campers to choose their own seating in the mornings.

Percy mock-pouted, causing his girlfriend to giggle at his horrible acting skills. They sat down.

"I save the world every day, Wise Girl! It's a bit of a chore," he boasted, winking. He can be so immature at times.

"That's a load of Minotaur dung, and you know it Percy," she corrected. In truth, Percy had helped saved the world twice already. But she wasn't going to admit it to him. Besides, she had been as much part of the action as he did.

He shrugged at her retort, before starting to stuff a load of pancakes into his mouth. Sometimes, she wondered where he even puts it all.

"So," Annabeth started, trying to find the best way to start this conversation. She had already planned out the whole conversation out in her head, but for the first time in weeks, her mind failed her.

"So?" he asked. He had the whole confused, yet arrogant look that made his sea green eyes sparkle. She found them distracting.

"So Percy…"

"Yes?" he asked again, smirking.

"Do you know what day it is?" She grinned.

 _This was the moment, after a year together, this was the moment!_

She noticed a slight hesitation.

 _Did he forget? Did she just remind him?_

 _Oh, Seaweed Brain._

"It's Friday Annabeth. Capture the Flag is tonight! You thought I would forget?"

She twitched. He outright forgot? AGAIN?!

She restrained herself from judo-flipping him. She took a breath, trying to calm herself. She relaxed her posture.

She started make explanations to herself. Maybe she read the calendar wrong? Maybe he had a surprise for her?

No. She would have noticed something if he was planning something for her.

 _This is Seaweed Brain, after all._

"Yes. Right, of course," She stammered. She tried suppressing her emotions, but in all honestly, it wasn't an Athena kids strengths. Their strength came from rational thoughts, and at that exact moment, she couldn't think over all the emotions and useless thoughts that were spinning around inside her.

At times like this, Annabeth envied Piper's skills in controlling her emotions. Normally, she would be able to put up a façade that would fool with just about anyone, but when it came with being with Percy, she had no clue.

It frustrated her how powerful love can be. It frustrated her how easily Piper would have handled with this situation.

"Have you decided which cabins you wanted?" She asked, changing the subject of the conversation. She decided that she'd wait until tonight to see if he would remembered. If he went the entire day without remembering, then she'll strangle him.

Today was their one-year anniversary. How couldn't he remember?

I then noticed he had stopped gorging down his food, reminding me that I hadn't even taken a bite of my own. I looked down at the freshly baked bagels and homemade jam. I sighed at myself, because I was about to waste perfectly good food. I wasn't hungry.

I looked back up. He hadn't yet answered my question.

"Percy, you there?" I said, interrupting the moment of silence.

"Sorry, I was thinking," he replied smoothly. _Percy, thinking? Yeah, right._

"That, would be a first," I joked, trying to lighten up my own mood.

Percy didn't even flinch at the comment.

"You sure you don't know what today is?" I injected. Seriously, can Percy not take a hint?

"Erm…um…" he stammered. Apparently, he could take a hint. He just couldn't figure out what I was alluding too.

"Is it Saturday or something? Did I sleep through the game? Because that would be just like me…"

I sighed.

"Never mind," I grumbled, irritated. I noticed that he registered my obvious annoyance with him.

"So which cabins do you want on your team tonight?" I repeated from earlier. The other conversation was getting nowhere.

He quickly sprouted out his answers as if he was reading a script, "Zeus, Hades, Apollo, Hephaestus, Nike and Nemesis." I nodded at the combination, since it was the exact combination I had predicted that he would choose. Percy was so predictable sometimes.

"You left me with Ares on purpose, didn't you?" I noted. He laughed.

"Of course, I'd thought you would like challenge, right?" he taunted with the most stupid, charming grin I've ever seen. He leaned in to peek at my left cheek, causing me to become flustered.

"Fine, I'll deal with having Ares on my team. But you shouldn't have left me with Piper!" I countered.

"Oh no," he replied, with fake fear. Was he underestimating me?

"You can change your mind if you want to," I suggested. It wouldn't matter what he chose, he was still going to lose.

"No." he answered, surprising me. "I've already made my choice. I think I should stand by my decisions."

I looked at him with uncertainty. It wasn't his response that was surprising. It was his aura. Normally, Percy had this calm, carefree sea breeze aura. For a second, it felt like a presence had engulfed the pavilion. Something familiar, but I couldn't place it.

Dread spread over me.

"Percy?" I asked uncertainly. The presence had subsided, but I stayed alert. Something was here.

"Yes?" he gulped. Why did he gulp? Did he feel it too?

"Are you sure you're not forgetting anything?" I asked carefully. I had to be careful what I said. If someone was watching us…

I started to get up from the table, hoping that we could continue to have this discussion in a more secure location. That presence…

"You don't remember, do you?" I crossed my arms, trying to act natural. It was pretty normal that I would be mad at him.

Percy took a second to respond.

"This will be our last weekend at camp!" he yelled to himself, hitting himself on the side of the head. "I should start to packing!"

I heard myself sigh at my forgetful boyfriend.

"Percy, today is—" The camp horn blared, interrupting me. It was time to for the first lessons of the day.

"Sorry Annabeth, I've got to go," Percy said quickly, before turning away.

He didn't even let me respond.

"I promised I'd help Jade find a new sword today. We'll talk later." He winked and started jogging down towards the arena, no doubt going to find the new daughter of Hecate that had arrived yesterday afternoon.

I decided that I would punish him later, and instead comprehend on what I had felt at the pavilion. I calmed myself and closed my eyes, thinking. Sometimes, I would stare into space in thought, but when I'm trying to remember something I like to close my eyes.

The presence had felt familiar, but I couldn't place it. But whatever it was, it wasn't friendly.

I breathed, and looked back up to see Percy wandering on the gravel path along the lake as it wandered towards the arena and forges.

I sighed once more, thinking how I was going to deal with Percy.

I'll have to deal with him later, I thought. I would have to deal with him later.

First, I had to find Chiron.

 **LINEBREAKHERE!**

As it turned out, Percy and I didn't end up talking later.

To my annoyance, I found myself swarmed with different responsibilities and tasks.

Immediately after breakfast Percy left to help Jade, I went to the Big House to privately discuss the presence I had felt with Chiron.

Chiron seemed deeply worried, since he had failed to sense any threatening presence himself, but told me he would look into it himself and that I should continue my day as normal. He didn't want to bring the camp in mass panic, again.

I ended up arguing against him over the matter, wasting both his and my time. I told him that after both the Titan War, and Gaea, the camp wouldn't instantly go into panic, just because of a presence.

To my frustration, he didn't budge.

While I had been arguing with Chiron with the proper course of action, my second in command, Malcolm had tripped whilst climbing the lava wall.

Luckily, he had only fallen when he was only two feet of the ground, but unfortunately, he had gotten quite a big bruise on his head.

Although Malcolm claimed he was perfectly fine after eating a chunk of ambrosia, Will Solace diagnosed a mild concussion, and forced Malcolm to spend the day resting. Malcolm looked like he wanted to argue, but Will started to rant about how he should have worn safety equipment while on the wall, and soon, Malcolm relented. Yes, Athena kids could be ranted at too, we admittedly aren't perfect.

Usually, I had Malcolm lead the Athena cabin through the daily activities, but without him, I was required to attend to my siblings myself. Honestly, I thought the Athena cabin was capable to lead itself into any battle, much less camp activities but yet again, Chiron worked against me.

Gratefully, nothing even mildly exciting happened for the rest of the morning, which greatly improved my mood. Sadly, I couldn't seem to find Percy anywhere. I mean, he's his own cabin, which gives him great flexibility in choosing his schedule, and I wouldn't be surprised if he skipped some of his normal activities.

But normally, he would skip to hang with me. I even tried to find Piper to ask her advice with my conundrum, but as same as Percy, I couldn't seem to find her.

Just when our free session came around along with lunch, Grover stumbled through the woods with a ragged new demigod.

Although I was happy to both see my best friend for 11 years, and help show Blake around camp, I would have rather spent the time with Percy.

Over the course of the day, it seemed that fate itself wanted me and Percy apart (which being a Greek demigod, I knew was a sure possibility). Various variables continued to drive me or Percy away.

Even at dinner, when I was sure I would get the time to chat with him, Percy stopped by while I was leading my cabin and quickly explained he had to go help some sea creatures of the a few miles of the coast about some kind of net-wielding goddess.

He would miss dinner.

"I'll be back in time for Capture the Flag," he promised, kissing me softly on the forehead, before running off towards the beach. I sighed in frustration, before leading the rest of the Athena kids to the pavilion.

I mindlessly grabbed a platter of smoked brisket and mashed potatoes. A classic Camp Half Blood specialty, it was one of my most favorite meals they served. After sacrificing the proper tribute to my mother, I sat at the end of the Athena table, mindlessly chewing. When I realized I had forgotten to grab some brisket for Malcolm, I got up. It was Malcolm's favorite dish, and he had made me promise to him to bring him some dinner in bed.

I cursed at myself for my forgetfulness and quickly finished my meal. I quickly grabbed one of the last platters of brisket for Malcolm and sprinted down towards the Cabin Six.

Blame my very keen eye for detail, but as I jogged by Percy's cabin, I noticed the lights were still on. I thought to myself if Percy had just forgotten to turn off his lights while in a rush, or if Tyson had decided to visit.

Either way, my instincts told me to check it out. If Percy had left on his lights again (it's not the first time, Seaweed Brain can be very forgetful), I could tease him for his incompetence right after I yelled at him for forgetting what today was.

I had already decided to forgive him for forgetting. I mean, if he doesn't even remember today was his own birthday, then I guess I shouldn't expect him to remember the one-year anniversary of the most important day of his life, right?

I quietly walked up the steps and was about to knock, when I heard hushed voices speak. I knew instantly who they were.

"Percy, you've got to tell her soon, you can't keep delaying it!" Piper demanded in a hushed tone. Piper? Why was Piper in Percy's cabin?

"Piper! We just need to keep it on the low down for a little longer," Percy responded. Then, I realized I almost hadn't seen both Piper and Percy for almost the entire day.

What was going on?

"I don't like this, Perce. You can't wait any longer from telling Annabeth what you've and I've been doing. I'm already surprised she hasn't found out–" There was a pause. "You need to listen to me, you have to tell her as soon as possible. Trust me, my mom's the love goddess, I know these things. You have to act before she gets suspicious and discovers-" My mind spun around with hundreds of scenarios of what could possibly be happening. None of them looked good.

"I know this is Annabeth we're hiding this from, but I'm sure she doesn't know," Percy interrupted again, becoming louder. "I've already chosen the perfect time to announce it to the entire camp our–"

I backed away from the door, not wanting to hear the rest of this conversation. This wasn't happening. This. Was. Not. Happening.

I stumbled back, almost tripping down the stairs. I had almost exposed myself.

But luckily, Malcolm's heavy plate of brisket was enough of a counterweight to cancel out my momentum. Barely.

If this conversation was about what I thought, it was about….

I couldn't think. For the first time since the visit to the Temple of Phobos and Deimos, I was too overwhelmed with frustrating emotions that blocked my more logical sides of my mind.

I hated emotions. They were always the uncontrollable variable. The one thing I could never fully rely on to be my side.

Come on, Annabeth, I thought to myself. Keep. It. Together.

But I couldn't. Barely containing my tears and crushed thoughts, I rushed to my cabin, in fear and shame of what I had just heard.

* * *

 **Yeah… I was bored. I hate this ending, but I'm too lazy to change it. Oh well. This isn't a romance story tho, and no more pointless drama. Promise.**

 **Best wishes, from a Junior Scribe of Camp Half-Blood,**

 **~VCRx**

* * *

 **A Beta Note from SoulHorse:**

 **Chapter has finally been betaed! Dam, your grammar and spelling VCRx! XDDD Did this while watching anime (Erased QwQ Anyone seen it?). Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Yours in demigoddishness, SoulHorse**

 **[Last Edit: 4.18.2017]**


	3. 2: Percy

**Replies:**

 _Can't wait for the next chapter! Good job!_ _ **–LizCraft**_

It's things like these that make my day. Thanks! I'll try to update as frequent as possible, but I'm juggling 2.5 stories plus college classes. But expect C3 to air soon!

* * *

 **-Part One: Pressed-**

 **Chapter 2: Percy**

 **Yay! Percy! Who doesn't like Percy?! Seriously, how are you part of the PJO fandom without liking this dude?**

* * *

 _This is going to be the best night of my night,_ I thought to myself as I rolled from my bunk, from a sleepless night. I had been too excited to sleep.

For the first time in a one-year relationship: I was the one with the plan, and I couldn't wait to pull it off.

I had spent the entire week preparing for this day. Today, was my seventeenth birthday, but if you asked me what was important about this day, I would have to say it was my one-year anniversary with Annabeth. The love of my life.

Just don't tell her that, it'll definitely add to her already big head.

I strutted into my cabin's bathroom, and gave myself time for a quick shower to ease my mood. I was on the edge of sweating a whale's worth from my anxiety. Trying to pull off a surprise on the most beautiful, smartest and violent girlfriend in the world does that to a guy.

As the water cascaded down my back and striped my anxiety away, I relaxed as the water seemingly striped my anxiousness away. I took advantage of the moment to think, as the shower started to rejuvenated me.

Yes, I was taking time to think. A son of Poseidon can think! I may not be a son of Athena, but that doesn't make me stupid. I just have trouble concentrating, at times.

Has that crack in the wall always been there?

Wait, what was I thinking again?

Right, water helped with concentrating. It was almost as if I was in the middle of my element, which arguably, I was.

I went over the plan another ten times. I listed of each step in my head, mentally marking a check on the ones I've completed. I quickly reminded myself that I'd have to make sure Piper was ready when I needed her. Without her this plan wasn't going to succeed.

After what felt like the best shower of the century, I thoroughly brushed my teeth, knowing Annabeth would comment on my kelp breath if I didn't. I wouldn't want to spend the evening with Annabeth gagging at the smell of my breath the entire time.

That would not be romantic.

I laughed to myself at the thought, making causing me to almost choke on the toothpaste in my mouth. I spluttered all over my sink.

I sighed, as I willed the sink to clean itself.

I walked over to my chest, and rummaged out my cleanest camp T-shirt and nicest pair of jeans.

I patted my pocket, making sure that my most prized possession still laid inside, where I had left it the night before.

The daily conch horn signaled the official start of Breakfast. I tightened my belt as I hurried out of my cabin. After magically locking the door with the chanted lock that the Hephaestus cabin had given to me. (You can never be too careful when the Hermes cabin is nearby. Unless you were a child of Poseidon, only people with my explicit permission could get through)., I quickly jogged up towards the Pavilion, not wanting to be last in line.

I was able to quickly slide into the line before the normal rush of campers started to file out of their cabins. A kitchen harpy handed (or is it winged?) me a tray, which I snatched a plate to place on.

I took a long deep breath through my nose, filling myself with the delicious(comma!) welcoming aromas that enveloped the pavilion every morning. Smells of freshly scrambled eggs (I have yet to gain the courage to ask what the chicken-ladies thought of it), bacon, sausage, pancakes, fruits and countless other delicacies that you would normally expect, filled the air. I paused, closing my eyes to just enjoy the smell.

It reminded me of memories of simpler times.

That's when the person behind me in line tapped me on the shoulder.

"Are you going to move, Seaweed Brain?"

I lit up turning to see my wonderful girlfriend. Her usually princess curled hair, was pulled up into a ponytail, allowing a greater view of her beautiful face. Her dark stormy gray eyes, bore into me with a brilliant, but a playful glee. Her mouth was curled up slightly, just enough for me to tell she was trying to not laugh. The rising sun behind her gave her this glow that you would only see from one of those Hollywood romance movies.

She looked absolutely magnificent. She shoved me forward, killing my concentration on her beauty.

"Come on Percy. You're holding up the line. Better get going before you give Hecate cabin another reason to curse you."

I sighed, remembering the incident that happened yesterday evening. We quickly scooted down along the line, grabbing our normal pick of food. I piled my plate with eggs, bacon (you can never have too much) and pancakes. Annabeth, on the other hand was a bit more diet conscious and grabbed two bagels (one extra just in case Piper snatches one), and various fruits.

As we neared the end, I finished off by burying my entire plate, pancakes and rest, with a tsunami of Maple Syrup.

Annabeth rolled her eyes at me while grabbing freshly homemade strawberry jam, which was made from the fields at camp.

"Sometimes Seaweed Brain, I wonder how you're still in shape," Annabeth commented as we walked towards the Poseidon table. Ever since the Giant War, Chiron had been more relaxed with rules, and allowed everyone to sit where they wanted. But there was still a table for every godly parent.

I tried to pout, making Annabeth giggle.

"I save the world every day, Wise Girl, it's a bit of a chore," I winked at her as we sat down on the bench.

"That's a load of Minotaur dung, and you know it Percy." I shrugged, starting to dig into my pancakes. I savored at the taste of the soft cooked batter with extra-extra-extra syrup.

"So," Annabeth started playfully.

I knew where this was going.

"So?" I replied, trying to put on my best confused- but- hiding- it face. It was hard. Have you ever tried to hide an emotion that you don't even have? It's harder than it sounds.

"So Percy…"

"Yes?" I asked.

"Do you know what day it is?" Annabeth's grin widened. She was really anticipated for my answer. I hesitated, thinking how to properly respond without giving anything away.

"It's Friday Annabeth! Capture the Flag is tonight! You thought I would forget?"

Annabeth's smile twitched. I silently prayed to the gods Annabeth wouldn't strangle me, because now, it felt like she was about to. Had I gone too far? Should I tell her I actually remembered our anniversary for once?

 _No. You shouldn't,_ I thought.

"Yes. Right, of course." Annabeth answered, flustered. A wide range of emotions, from rage and irritation, to disappointment passed through her face, before being masked a thoughtful smile.

Her grin was still twitching, and her eyes looked like they were trying to blast me through the head, but I pretended not to notice.

"Have you decided which cabins you wanted?" she asked, quietly as I stuffed another couple of pancakes into my mouth. Yesterday, Chiron had announced that the cabins leading Capture the Flag this week were Poseidon and Athena. That meant that I would be competing against Annabeth for the victory.

Just a recommendation to anyone who wants to survive: Do not go against my girlfriend. Annabeth is probably the smartest and most fearless person I know. Her fatal flaw, Hubris, causes her to be very protective of her pride. Which means she won't go too easy on me.

To be honest, I was actually very nervous about today's match. I mean, never go against the Athena cabin. They know what they're doing, and know what you're going to do years before you even do it. Now that I mention it, I was actually surprised that Annabeth hasn't hadn't figured out my plan already. Or maybe she has.

Maybe she's just playing along? Maybe she wants me to feel good about myself. Just for my sake?

Stop it Percy. Your overthinking this.

My brain wasn't made to think about these things. I usually left Annabeth to do all the complex thinking. But for obvious reasons, I couldn't go ask her about this. I just have had to hope my plan works.

"Percy, you there?" Annabeth interrupted, bringing me back to reality.

"Sorry, I was thinking," I replied.

"That, would be a first," Annabeth teased.

I noticed her breakfast laid on her plate, untouched.

"You sure you don't know what today is?" Annabeth asked intently, obviously intent to make me

realize what was today.

"Erm, um." I said, putting on my best 'struggling to think' face.

"Is it Saturday or something? Did I sleep through the game? Because that would be just like me…" I rambled.

"Never mind." Annabeth sighed. I felt a tinged feeling of annoyance radiating from her. This time, she didn't bother to hide it.

"So which cabins do you want on your team tonight?" Annabeth repeated from earlier. Everyone knew that the Athena cabin always wins, so Annabeth decided she wanted a challenge by letting me pick the teams. It wouldn't matter though, with any combination, the Athena cabin would find a way to win.

I quickly rattled out my answers that I had decided upon the night before, "Zeus, Hades, Apollo, Hephaestus, Nike and Nemesis." The combination sounded decent. They team hopefully sounded good enough that Annabeth would think I was looking to win.

Annabeth nodded at my answers expectantly.

"You left me with Ares on purpose, didn't you?" Annabeth asked, narrowing her eyes. I laughed, knowing that my plan would've never succeeded if I had to deal with Ares on my side. "Of course, I'd thought you would like challenge, right?" I taunted, smiling. I leaned in to peek her the cheek. She blushed, for a second forgetting I had allegedly forgotten our special day.

"Fine, I'll deal with having Ares on my team. But you shouldn't have left me with Piper!"

Annabeth's eyes gleamed.

"Oh no," I feigned.

Actually, it was part of my plan not have Piper on my team. It was key that Piper was on Annabeth's team.

"You can change your mind if you want to," Annabeth suggested. It was almost as if she thought. I would need all the help I could get. Did she really pity me that much?

"No." I said, trying to keep a straight face. "I've already made my choice. I think I should stand by my decisions."

Annabeth looked at me quizzically, before speaking once more.

"Percy?" she asked, uncertainly. For the first time, I heard something that I would have never expected from Annabeth.

She sounded desperate.

"Yes?" I asked, gulping.

We both got up from the table, as now we were finished with our meals. Annabeth hadn't even taken a single bite. We left our dishes for the harpies to clean up.

"Are you sure you're not forgetting anything?" Annabeth asked pleadingly in hope. I didn't have a second to respond, when Annabeth continued.

"You don't remember, do you." Annabeth stated, crossing her arms.

Annabeth asked a question, but stated it as a fact. I almost wanted to prove her wrong at this exact moment.

But I held myself back. Luckily. "This will be our last weekend at camp!" I yelled to myself, hitting myself on the head. "I should start to packing!" I heard Annabeth sigh loudly.

"Percy, today is—" The camp horn blared, announcing the end of breakfast. It was time to for the first lessons of the day.

"Sorry Annabeth, I've got to." I interrupted quickly, not giving her time to say anything else. "I promised I'd help Jade find a new sword today. We'll talk later."

I jogged away off, towards the arena, relieved I didn't have to keep this charade up the entire day. Halfway down the hill, I stopped. For a second, I wanted to turn around and hold Annabeth. Show her that I _did_ remember, and showed her what I got her for our anniversary.

I looked back towards the pavilion to see Annabeth still standing where I left her, glaring at the ground in disappointment.

A wave passed through me, diminishing the idea of ruining the surprise.

 _It ought to wait._

And so, I wandered to go find Jade.

* * *

 **Different POV, same scene. But if you're smart, there's enough here in this and the previous chapters to already make solid arguments for who we're looking out for…**

 **Next chapter, we play Capture the Flag. Yeeeessssssh!**

 **See you in two weeks, or whenever I think you guys deserve it! Get an update early by leaving a review! ;)**

 **Best Wishes, from a Junior Scribe of Camp Half-Blood,**

* * *

 **~VCRx**

 **(This chapter has not been betaed.)**

 **[Last Edited: 4.18.2017]**


	4. 3: Annabeth

**Replies:**

 _Good chapter (this and last) and you need to answer both of these reviews btw. Also if I review twice do we get the chapter twice as fast? can that be how it works?_ _ **–Omega Alpha Hydra**_

Thanks man! Glad someone out there is enjoying this as much as I am writing it. And yes, I answered both your reviews. As for if you review twice…. It's going to be faster if I get more reviews, but I count it per person, so you can't cheat. ;)

 _Can we have Pertemis for Time Locked? New guy here, just that most Pertemis I read is pretty good. Otherwise, I'd vote Percabeth. Updates? please faster!_ _ **–Pikachupercyharryfirestar**_

Umm. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Pertemis, but this story wasn't really built in a way that Pertemis would work… I mean, if you guys want me to, I'll try to make it Pertemis, but I can't guarantee good plot and character development if I do. Will do my friend. The updates right here. :)

* * *

 **-Part One: Pressed-**

 **Chapter 3: Annabeth**

 **You guys want to hear a quick story? Well here it goes: One day, there were two friends who came up with this great/complex idea for a fanfic. (This was right after they both read** _ **House of Hades.)**_ **The problem was, neither of them were any good at writing. So they didn't bother writing it. Then, three years later, one of the two good friends finally grew the courage to try their challenging idea. That was me. So after I happen to casually bring up the fact I was actually writing down our idea… My friend wanted in. So say hai to the peoples, Maverick!**

 **MaverickMCCXXI – Hello, I have currently stolen all creative control of this fanfiction! :)**

 **VCRx – I resent that comment… But the readers don't won't to hear about this. They want a PJO story. So here we go…**

* * *

 _ **Last Time with Annabeth…**_

 _I quietly walked up the steps and was about to knock, when I heard hushed voices speak. I knew instantly who they were._

" _Percy, you've got to tell her soon, you can't keep delaying it!" Piper demanded in a hushed tone. Piper? Why was Piper in Percy's cabin?_

" _Piper! We just need to keep it on the low down for a little longer," Percy responded. Then, I realized I almost hadn't seen both Piper and Percy for almost the entire day._

 _What was going on?_

" _I don't like this, Perce. You can't wait any longer from telling Annabeth what you've and I've been doing. I'm already surprised she hasn't found out–" There was a pause. "You need to listen to me, you have to tell her as soon as possible. Trust me, my mom's the love goddess, I know these things. You have to act before she gets suspicious and discovers-" My mind spun around with hundreds of scenarios of what could possibly be happening. None of them looked good._

" _I know this is Annabeth we're hiding this from, but I'm sure she doesn't know," Percy interrupted again, becoming louder. "I've already chosen the perfect time to announce it to the entire camp our–"_

 _I backed away from the door, not wanting to hear the rest of this conversation. This wasn't happening. This. Was. Not. Happening._

 _I stammered back, almost miss-stepping, and tripping down the stairs. I had almost exposed myself._

 _But luckily, Malcolm's heavy plate of brisket was enough of a counterweight to cancel out my momentum. Barely._

 _I couldn't think. For the first time since the Temple to Phobos and Deimos, I was too overwhelmed with frustrating emotions that blocked my more logical sides of my mind._

 _I hated emotions. They were always the uncontrollable variable. The one thing I could never fully rely on to be my side._

 _Come on, Annabeth, I thought to myself. Keep. It. Together._

 _But I couldn't._

 _Barely containing my tears and crushed thoughts, I rushed to my cabin, in fear and shame of what I had just heard._

 **Only two hours later…..**

RRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAA!

The camp's conch horn blared, signaling the beginning of Capture the Flag. I stuttered off my bunk, wiping of the salty tears on my cheeks. Malcolm patted my shoulder in sympathy.

When I had confessed to Malcolm what I had heard, Malcolm had tried to convince me, that I must have heard wrong.

"Percy would never do this, Annabeth" he would repeatedly argue against her, as he gobbled down his dinner. He hadn't eaten since breakfast.

He tried to push me to think rationally about the situation. I struggle to think, as my head was mixed with distraught emotions. I couldn't even go to Piper for help because…

I held back another wave of tears. Wave of tears…. Why did I have to choose that choice of words? I composed myself, preparing myself for the outside.

I slowly creaked open the cabin door.

With wet eyes, I stared at the beautiful scenes that I should've been accommodated to years ago but couldn't help but admire and gawk at every evening.

The sun was beginning to set, and Apollo must've been feeling really generous today, as the sky was reddening to a beautiful marigold orange.

I sighed, taking a moment to reminiscent the view. I took a first step forward.

"That's one more than I expected you would take," Malcolm joked.

The glare I gave him would've scare the living daylights out of anyone, even Percy. Malcolm casually shrugged it off and went back to his book.

I looked back, down at the sloping the country-sides that surrounded the camp lake. Streams of campers, having recently finished their meals and attended the early campfire, were wandering towards the northern woods. I paused a moment to appreciate the scenery. Rich splashes of green and brown gave the trees their lively color. The lake sparkled in the dwindling sunlight. The strawberry fields were littered with still ripe strawberries, even though it was their off-season.

It had been ten years since I had first seen this view. But no matter how many times, I was allowed to enjoy the view, it never seemed to bore me. Camp Half-Blood was a beautiful sight. I sighed tensely.

I jogged down the paths, in hopes of catching up to my cabin. The Athena cabin, in no doubts in my mind, would be able to lead themselves, but for obvious reasons, I needed to be there for the opening ceremony of the game. I _was_ team captain.

The campers although excited for the match, were in no rush as their wandered in the general direction of the woods. Quickly she caught up to near the front of the line.

I passed many of the assorted campers, all seemingly joking and obviously happy with themselves. Seemed like everyone was in a great mood for a match of Capture the Flag.

Some faces I recognized, many I didn't even remember, before setting off on the quest to Greece.

We had been away so long….

I was nearing the fore parts of the stream of campers, before I was confronted by the one person I didn't want to see.

"Hey Annabeth!" a familiar feminine voice squeal exhaustedly.

I paused to consider my choices.

I kept walking.

"Annabeth! Wait!" Piper called, sprinting to catch up. I cursed silently as I found my feet stop in their tracks.

"Annabeth," she huffed. "Didn't you hear me?"

I shook my head. "Sorry, I was in a bit of a rush, I need to be there for the opening."

I turned myself around, about to run off again in avoidance of this conversation.

"'Kay" Piper replied smoothly.

Then her tone became serious, "I just wanted to tell you I had this amazing plan that I came up with." Piper paused to find the right words. "You're such a great strategist, but I wanted to ask if you could give my plan a go. And I _know_ it's going to work, you see if we sent the first and fifth squad towards the eastern hills…"

Although I was never able to recognize it happening when I did it, I quickly noticed Piper's rambling.

"Piper, first of all that's my job. You just can't steal it, why don't you stand to the side and look pretty…"

Piper looked like she was about to argue back, "…You know I'm the one that's supposed to ramble. You know it." I pointed at her.

"I know it." I found myself pointing at myself. "Percy knows it…"

Piper laughed.

I sighed, finally cooling off the tension that I had been holding in. The more rational sections of my brain began to function. Piper was my best friend. She would never do anything to hurt me; it must've been my imagination or I must have misheard.

Yes. That was it.

"Sure, McLean, we'll do it your way," I finally answered smiling.

Piper tried to suppress a grin of pure glee.

"You won't regret it!" Piper squealed pulling me in for one her of signature hugs. Piper was known for her hugs.

RRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAA!

"Oh schist! I better find Chiron," I said quickly before Piper reluctantly let go of me. I scampered off, towards one the most eventful game of Capture the Flag, I would ever play.

 **LINEBREAK?!**

I was glad to find that the game had not started without me.

Piper and I were the last ones to run into the scene, as we both ran into our spots. Piper, under a dove banner, me next to Chiron

Chiron looked at me, as if he wanted to tell me something, but obviously didn't.

"Heroes!" Chiron announced. He sat in his magic wheelchair above a podium. Percy and I flanked him on either side.

"Today, is the annual end of Summer game of Capture the Flag!"

A loud cheer came from the crowd.

"Athena and Poseidon have stepped up to lead the opposing teams! You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banners of each team must be prominently displayed, and have no more than three guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but not bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed."

There was a grunt of displeasure from the Ares cabin.

"I heard that Sherman! As always, I will serve as referee and battlefield medic! Now, prepare for the teams to be chosen!"

He waved his hands, and the tables were magically loaded with equipment. Helmets, bronze swords, spears, bows, guns, and shields coated in metal.

I stepped up and grabbed one, and I felt as the magic began to work on the helmet. I took it off, and spied that the earlier white plume had darkened into a bloodied red. I raised my helmet, to reveal that Athena had received red. An exciting cheer erupted throughout the crowd.

I looked over to Percy who was doing the same. He raised a blue helmet, signifying he would lead the blue team.

The cheers only grew, in excitement and anticipation.

Percy spoke, glancing at me. "On my side, we will have Hades, Apollo, Hephaestus, Nike, and Nemesis!"

A mixture of happy cheers and mad boos sprang out. The counselors of the chosen cabins, Nico di Angelo, Will Solace, Nyssa Barrera, Holly Victor, and Damien White stepped forward.

I had to admit, Percy had chosen an excellent team. Too bad that wouldn't change a thing.

"On the Red Team, we will have Demeter, Ares, Aphrodite, Hermes, Dionysus, Iris, Hebe, Tyche and Hecate!" I announced.

More shouting.

Chiron had to hammer his hooves on the marble to silence the campers.

"Zeus and Hypnos have chosen not to participate in the event," Chiron concluded. "Now, arm yourselves!" A rush of demigods surged forwards, grasping for the best equipment. The tables magically reloaded themselves as quickly as possible, but even with magic, three hundred kids for four tables of equipment was a lot.

When everything finally settled down, I rallied my team to the red banner, which proudly shown with a silver Owl emblem. The symbol of Athena.

We screamed and hollered at the Blue team, as they marched towards the southern woods. The other team booed and mocked at us back. It was friendly, yet fierce with competition.

After a few back and forths, between the two groups, I finally realized one of the teams needed to withdraw, before this would ever end. Seeing it as an opportunity, I quickly grabbed attention, and marched, double time towards the northern encampments. With about a hundred forty rowdy campers in tow.

"Hey! Annabeth!" Piper said, catching up to me.

I raised my eyebrow.

"So what's this illusive plan you were speaking of?" I asked.

Although war tactics weren't exactly what children of Aphrodite, I didn't doubt Piper. She wouldn't ask me unless she had something to show me.

Through the slit of her helmet, a sliver of a glee appeared on Piper's face.

Piper peered around, as if in fear of being overheard. Although I doubted that anyone could hear us over the yelling of our team, I didn't say anything.

Piper leaned in.

"Before Jason left for his trip this evening, I overheard him and Percy discussing the plan. Apparently, Percy still wanted Jason's feedback if the plan would work or not. Even if Jason's not playing."

I nodded.

"Percy's going to lead a diversion on the north side, along the coast. He wanted to use the sea, as an advantage."

I nodded in understanding. He would be able to disable any movement on the far northern side.

"I heard him say that he's going to send Hephaestus, Nike and Apollo in as a distraction on the south side. With both of those fronts, he wanted to distract you, and force us into a defense stance."

I smiled. Jason must've had a lot of impact on the plan. Although Percy was often much smarter than anyone gave him credit for, he would never be able to plan anything this brilliant.

Besides, the plan sounded exactly like the Roman Pincer Maneuver. It pushes the opponent forces into a pinned-down, two-front confrontation. Any Ex-Roman Praetor would know the infamous ancient Rome strategy.

Instantly, my mind went a million miles, formulating a plan. Took me another moment to remember that Piper had said she already had one.

"So what's the plan, McLean?"

Piper grinned.

"We follow exactly how Percy hopes us to. Follow through, and tell our team to pretend to be caught by surprise and defend. Meanwhile, we send a small unit through the middle–"

"By Zeus' Fist?"

Piper's grin twitched.

"Exactly. Except for Nico and the Nemesis cabin, everyone should be on the offensive. After that, we improvise."

I grimly nodded.

The counterstrategy was exactly what I would've thought of.

I turned back to Piper, just as we arrived to the Red Team's point.

"Who do you suppose should be in the small scout unit?" I challenged.

Piper smirked.

"Us."

 **LINEBREAKAGAIN?**

After that, Piper and I rallied everyone around the point and explained to our forces the strategy. They weren't happy that they had to hold defense, especially the Ares Cabin, but no one challenged the plan.

Ares knew too well, not to challenge Percy when he was near water.

After one or two inspirational speeches, supplied by McLean, and a conch horn announcement that said we were ready, we were off!

Piper and I quickly ran through the thick woods at top speed. It was only in mere minutes when we began to hear the shouting and fighting around us. We slowed down, in favor of stealth, rather than speed.

Sounds of storms sounded from either side of us. To our left, a wiz of flaming arrows battered into lines of Ares and Aphrodite kids.

I heard as one Aphrodite girl scream when she found her hair was on fire.

"AHHHH! My perfect hair!" the voice, I recognized as Drew screamed in a pitch so high, that any soprano would be jealous.

Towards our right, _literal_ storms brew. Lightning and Thunder crackled, which I found strange since Percy didn't have power over that.

Finally, we sneaked the final crest before Zeus' fist. We we're still in our territory, but the place was a giant clearing in the trees. Any blue forces scouting would easily spy us.

We laid behind a tree near the crest.

When I looked over to Piper, she had taken her helmet off, and had the largest grin I had ever seen on her face.

Which was saying a lot.

"Why are you smiling?" I asked.

Piper squealed.

"Oh, you're going to kill me Chase."

I raised an eyebrow.

"But Percy wanted something romantic planned for you two tonight. So he asked me to help out a bit. Plan this little get away at the Fist –"

BOOOM!

I felt, as the sound barrier broke around me, trees swayed away, and water rained. But it didn't come from the sky. It came from behind the hill.

Zeus' Fist.

Piper immediately stood up. Her entire expression was now troubled.

"What was that?!" Piper yelled. She pulled me.

"What is it?" I asked, but I already knew. Something was wrong.

"This wasn't part of the plan. Something's wrong," Piper said, echoing my exact thoughts.

She pulled me up, and together we ran to the ridge.

Then we made it to the top.

I spied the scene. Zeus' fist was gone. A huge crater, 20 yards in diameter, had formed where the collection of boulders had previously stood. The grounds and rim was smoking, showers of dirt started to fall, evident to the recent explosion.

Water was flowing back down, along all sides of the smoldering hole.

Then I noticed a banner, had been spanned across the tops of the trees. It had been ripped to shreds. But I made out that last few characters.

 _Ma-_

Piper screamed. Then I saw what she was staring at.

Silently, we skidded down the wall of the crater, smoking muck sticking to our jeans.

We stumbled near the epicenter, where obvious signs of a recent explosion had taken place.

But what laid amongst the dirt was what caught my attention.

Partially buried, the unmistakable grip of Riptide spiked out from the ground. The blade was bloodied with a dark crimson, steaming hot blood still dripping. Tears of orange fabric littered the ground, among the dust and smoke that filled the air.

But peeked out of the dirt next to the blade, was what caught my eye. A small charred blue box.

A jewelry box. A box for a ring…

I dragged my feet during the last few steps, in anticipation of an ambush.

The forest was silent. Too silent and at peace, as if the forest was holding its breathe at what would come of next.

Trembling with expectation, I rummaged the box from the steaming mud.

My hands couldn't stay steady as I held it up to view, and brush some of the debris away.

 _Happy Anniversary Annabeth!_ It read.

With dedication, I opened it.

I yelped at what was inside.

Inside, was a ring. It was made of the brightest glimmer of Imperial Gold. On the top, what the most beautiful silver pearl I had ever seen.

A folded note was attached to it.

My fingers trembled as I opened it, revealing Percy's horrid handwriting that was written in Riptide's faded ink.

 _To the Love of My life, I will have never made it this far without you. -PJ_

"Wha–"

Before I know what was happening, the earth began to hum. As if the earth itself had turned into a living machine.

With a shake, the ground began to tilt, and stumble, with Piper and me with it. Through the shaken dirt, a glowing blue triangle revealed itself from through the dust.

A delta.

It grew around us, like an incoming mirage.

There was a snap, and the delta rang with a shriek.

Then, the earth gave way from under us.

* * *

 **MaverickMCCXXI – Remember to leave a comment and I'll pander you! To us, a review is more than a hundred follows. ;)**

 **VCRx – Is it just me, or does pander sounds like such a weird word? … Anyway, hope you enjoyed this longer chapter. It was an effort, but I did it. Took my heart and soul, as well as one** _ **long**_ **root beer powered night, lol.**

 **Best Wishes, from a Junior Scribe of Camp Half-Blood,**

 **~VCRx**

* * *

 **(This chapter has not been betaed.)**

 **[Last Edited: 4.18.2017]**


	5. 4: Percy

- **Replies:**

 _Ahhhhhh! Whhhhyyyyy! It was amazing and really sad at the same time! I can't wait for the next chapter! What happens?! Where did Percy go? You do know that if Annabeth finds you, she is going to kill you right? ;)_ _ **–LizCraft**_

Thanks for the review, Liz! Your review made me so happy since it was the exact reaction I was hoping for. The next chapter is right here, and don't worry, we'll find out where Percy is eventually. This next chapter might help, since its written from his POV. As for Annabeth, I think her and Camp Half-Blood will be too occupied with finding Percy and dealing with the mysterious figure… *Grins*

* * *

 **-Part One: Pressed-**

 **Chapter 4: Percy**

 **This chapter might be a yellow flag to all those moderators out there, but don't worry. I don't plan to copy much work from Riordan. I've also changed a lot of things, so I should still be in the parameters.**

 **Besides that, hope you guys enjoyed last chapter and it's cliffey! We're going to step away from Annabeth and come back to Percy this one, ENJOY! :P**

* * *

Stepping through the brush, I set my eyes upon the set of boulders that had once resembled a fist.

I've had mix memories of the place. So much good and bad had happened.

Today, I was hoping to make a great one.

I approached the pile of boulders, seeking the picnic basket I had brought here earlier this morning.

There was a rustle in the trees.

I turned and came to face my accomplice in this evolving scheme.

"Hey Jackson," Jason shouted, landing with a breeze.

"I can never get over the fact that you're just like a blond superman," I replied, shaking my head at him.

Jason smirked.

"So you got your part of the plan checked?" He asked.

"Yep," I said, patting my pocket. My most prized possession laid inside. "Don't worry about me. I've got the easy part." I said, walking down the side of the ridge. I turned the corner of the boulders and found the romantic picnic that my mom had cooked for us.

Annabeth loved my mother's cooking, and I could risk making anything myself, so I had asked my mom to cook something up for us. The smell of fresh chocolate-chip cookies wafted in the breeze.

"You?" I asked back, not getting distracted by my stomach.

"North Shore. Distraction. Make it as wet as possible." Jason answered me.

I nodded, rummaging through the basket, making sure everything was still there.

"You got the prize Nyssa and Piper picked out for you?" he asked, starting to hover again.

I patted my pocket once more. My most prized possession.

"Luck with the ask, Percy? Not that you'll need it." I nodded. "Then I'll be expecting to get invited to the party?" Jason said jokingly.

"You better be there." I smiled.

Then there was the sound of the conch from the northern woods. The game was off.

Jason, taking his queue, made a flashy getaway as if the conch horn had been there to announce his epic escape.

Like a superhero from a film, he flew in towards the sunset.

I took out some notecards that I had written, making one last rehearse. I hadn't yet memorized it yet, but I prayed this last try would do wonders. My speech _had_ to be perfect. Annabeth deserved no less.

Estimating that Piper wouldn't be here with Annabeth for another few minutes, I mumbled to myself, reading the scribbled blue ink off the crumpled lines of paper.

Then, there was a snap. A misstep. A sound sprung from behind.

 _Piper was supposed to come from ahead of me. No one else is supposed to be here._

The air around me seemed to change. A static that felt so familiar that I couldn't place it.

I tried to turn around, but time seemed to slow down.

All I could feel, was a sharp pain in the back of my pain, and I began to fall down.

My vision turned red, and the ground came in the forefront of my vision.

The last thing I saw was a dark form – enveloped with shadows, eyes bleeding into me. He gloomed and stood with expectance. And the glowing blue delta.

 **LINEBREAKALREADY?**

There was a blinding flash, and a jaw-rattling _boom!_

In an instant of a second, I felt weightless, like I was being crushed, fried and hosed at the same time.

I peeled my forehead off of something before realizing it was the back of a car seat. Not the dirt?

"Percy!" the sounds of my mom's voice echoed in my ears.

"I'm okay…" I stuttered. My voice sounded weird.

I tried to shake off the daze. I haven't had that much of a crash since….

That's when I saw where I was in.

Gabe's Camaro. The one that was destroyed years ago.

How?

Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump.

"Grover?!"

My best friend was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. But the weird thing was, he looked exactly like how he looked years ago….. in the 6th grade.

It took me a few moments to start comprehending what was happening when suddenly, my friend groaned.

"Food!"

I sighed with relief. He was injured and bleeding, but alive.

He was alive.

I looked to the driver's seat, where my mother, who looked mostly unscathed and several years younger was struggling to get her seat belt off.

I remember this…

"Percy," my mother said. "We have to–"

Her voice faltered.

I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud splattered rear windshield, I saw a shadow of a figure lumbering towards us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl.

 _This must be some dream._

But it felt far too real.

It was the minotaur. And somehow, I was experiencing something that had already happened years ago.

"Percy," my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."

I didn't hesitate. I tried busting my own door open, but it was jammed. Quickly, I smashed my way through the glass. In a hurry, I crawled out.

"Percy – you have to run! Do you see that big tree?" came from the car.

"No." I answered back. I didn't look towards where I knew camp was. I stared at the rumbling clouds. The falling rain around me. The minotaur half a hundred yards down the road, wailing.

Starring me, in anticipation for a meal.

"No! Percy! The other way! That's the property line," my mom tried to yell over the storm. "Get over that hill–" I could feel her pointing towards the trees. "– and you'll see a big farmhouse down–"

I walked steadily onto the lane of the road, splashing in the mud enough so the minotaur could hear me.

"Mom," I said. I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew, I had to do it right.

The minotaur grunted, making snorting noises.

"Run Percy! He wants you. He won't even look at us! Just get to the top of the hill," my mom tried to scream over the rain.

The minotaur, at that point must've have found our conversation boring, because that's when he finally lowered his head.

He charged, those razor sharp horns aimed at my chest.

I stood my ground, waiting patiently. I had done this before. I had no idea how I was here, because this felt more real than any dream I've ever experienced.

And I've never dreamed about myself. I've never had any control in any of my dreams, always before, I was a silent observer.

At the last moment, I jumped to the side.

The minotaur stormed past me like a freight train. He bellowed in frustration and turned. But not towards me. But towards the Camaro.

I spied my mother, who had managed to escape the car, was trying to help Grover out of the passenger door.

"No! Mom! Watch out!" I screamed. I sprinted as hard as I could, but the minotaur outpaced me. My mom turned and saw the incoming beast. She shoved Grover, like a doll out the way onto the grass before the minotaur made a grab at her.

She tried to sidestep, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and squirming.

 _No. Not again!_

With an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around her neck, and she dissolved into a shimmering golden light.

I sighed in relief, as Hades had saved her from a gruesome end.

I should thank the god of the underworld; the next time I saw him. Without his intervention, my mom would have surely died.

The minotaur hollered at Gabe's Camaro, apparently offended. I didn't understand why, but the minotaur began fisting the windows, in obvious distain.

Maybe it smelled to much like Gabe and his moldy pizza.

That's when I remembered something Gabe had once told me, ' _Not a scratch.'_

Oops.

I stood back, expecting the minotaur to continue, but then the bull-man bore down on Grover who laid helpless in the muddy grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend as if he were about to lift Grover as well.

I couldn't let that happen.

I stripped of my red rain jacket, not minding getting a bit wet.

"Hey! I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey Idiot! Ground beef!"

"Raaaarrrrrr!" The monster turned towards me, shaking his meaty fists.

I backed up, lining my exposed back upon Thalia's tree and waved my jacket in front of the beast.

The Minotaur charged, and I readied my legs.

Time slowed down.

I let go of the coat, and leaped straight up, kicking of the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning midair, and landing on his disgusting neck.

I may have been really distracted last time, trying to survive for my life, but now that I knew what I was doing, I began to wonder when was the last time this guy took a bath.

 _Do monsters bathe?_ I've never thought about that before.

The minotaur staggered around trying to shake me, but it was no use. I wasn't going anywhere. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. Rain splattered into my eyes.

That, gave me an idea.

I relaxed. Using the rain around me, trying to draw in strength.

Right on cue, Grover started groaning in the grass, forcing me out of my concentration. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.

"Food!" Grover moaned. What was with him and food?

The minotaur wheeled towards him, pawing the ground ready to charge at the dazed satyr.

With as my effort as I could muster, I put both my hands on one horn and pulled backward with all my might.

 _Snap!_

The minotaur screamed and flung me through the air. I twisted midair, and rolled onto the ground. Safe.

The monster turned and charged at me at double speed, obviously enraged and in pain.

Instinctively, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.

He roared in agony. I landed on my back in surprise, as he flailed his arms around, desperate for one more grasp.

Then, he disintegrated into a barrage of golden dust, which was quickly blown away by the winds of the storm.

The monster was gone.

The rain began to stop. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance.

My mom was gone, but I knew where she was. Grover groveled, moaning for food behind me.

I dropped the horn, and stared at my own hands. There were covered in blood, scratched up by the broken glass.

But that's not what worried me.

They were tiny. My hands looked so small.

I ran past Grover's form, to stare at the last intact window of Gabe's beat-up Camaro. I stared at myself.

I looked twelve years old.

I was in pain. This wasn't a dream. I looked around me to see if I could see anything wrong with the scene.

Thunder clouds rumbled.

The air was drying.

The winds battered my face.

I looked down at my unconscious friend, who laid there moaning for enchiladas.

I tried slapping myself, yelling myself to wake up.

All I could feel was the skin on my cheeks sting from each impact.

The pain.

It began to become overwhelming.

 _Need to get help…_

I wanted to lie down there, waiting until I woke up from whatever this was. The only other option was….. time travel. And I highly doubted it was that.

But then there was Grover, needing my help. So I managed to haul him up and stagger up the hill, to take in the site of camp. The illusion quickly gave way, since I knew what to expect.

The Big house laid hundreds of yards down, and after that, the dining hall and amphitheater.

Steadily, I made my way.

The last thing I remember is finally giving way, collapsing on the front porch, looking at the ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around the yellow light, and Chiron and Annabeth's stern faces. Annabeth's princess curled hair fluttered in the soft breeze.

"He's the one. He must be," she said, expectantly.

"Silence, Annabeth," Chiron soothed. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."

Then, there was black.

* * *

 **End of Chapter.**

 **Did you expect that? Probably, especially if you read Josh the Pleb's** _ **Shattered**_ **. Time's going to be important, (you should've expected nothing less, it's called the Time Locked Prophecy for a reason) but I swear this is completely different from how Josh has been using it. (And for the record, me and my friend had this idea, like three years ago.)**

 **See ya guys later! :)**

 **Best Wishes, from a Junior Scribe of Camp Half-Blood,**

 **~VCRx**

* * *

 **(This chapter has not been betaed)**

 **[Last Edited: 4.18.2017]**


	6. 5: Annabeth

**Replies:**

 _the second I started reading the Lightning Thief, I knew what you did, awesome chapter btw, though you could've made it just a bit more different from the OG story to help_ _ **–Omega Alpha Hydra**_

For all those mystery solvers out there, I'll be leaving you hints or clues throughout the story. And subtle changes from Riordan's canon might also be useful… If you're not into puzzles, just read and enjoy. :P

* * *

 **-Part One: Pressed-**

 **Chapter 5: Annabeth**

 **The last chapter was an apparent success… I don't know if y'all just like time travel or it's just that I finally added a cover picture, but it jumped from 200 total views to 1K+?! Gods dam, you guys made me jump with joy, like seriously. I cannot thank you, you guys enough for reading. :3**

 **But here's something for you to chew on. I present to you a back to back chapter. See you guys at the bottom!**

* * *

 _ **Last time with Annabeth:**_

 _Piper screamed. Then I saw what she was staring at._

 _Silently, we skidded down the wall of the crater, smoking muck sticking to our jeans._

 _We stumbled near the epicenter, where obvious signs of a recent explosion had taken place._

 _But what laid amongst the dirt was what caught my attention._

 _Partially buried, the unmistakable grip of Riptide spiked out from the ground. The blade was bloodied with a dark crimson, steaming hot blood still dripping. Tears of orange fabric littered the ground, among the dust and smoke that filled the air._

 _But peeked out of the dirt next to the blade, was what caught my eye. A small charred blue box._

 _A jewelry box. A box for a ring…_

 _I dragged my feet during the last few steps, in anticipation of an ambush._

 _The forest was silent. Too silent and at peace, as if the forest was holding its breath at what would come of next._

 _Trembling with expectation, I rummaged the box from the steaming mud._

 _My hands couldn't stay steady as I held it up to view, and brush some of the debris away._

 _Happy Anniversary Annabeth! It read._

 _With dedication, I opened it._

 _I yelped at what was inside._

 _Inside, was a ring. It was made of the brightest glimmer of Imperial Gold. On the top, what the most beautiful silver pearl I had ever seen._

 _A folded note was attached to it._

 _My fingers trembled as I opened it, revealing Percy's horrid handwriting that was written in Riptide's faded ink._

 _To the Love of My life, I will have never made it this far without you. -PJ_

" _Wha–"_

 _Before I know what was happening, the earth began to hum. As if the earth itself had turned into a living machine._

 _With a shake, the ground began to tilt, and stumble, with Piper and me with it. Through the shaken dirt, a glowing blue triangle revealed itself from through the dust._

 _The delta._

 _It grew around us, like an incoming mirage._

 _There was a snap, and the delta rang with a shriek._

 _Then, the earth gave way from under us._

I might've whimpered a shriek, as we began to fall, into the depths.

For a split second, reemerging nightmares of my time in Tartarus began to ring in my mind.

Falling down, down, down into the infinite depths for the rest of eternity.

A hell hole that housed the worst, calling to me to return.

 _You belong here,_ the souls from the river damned had told me, _you deserve punishment as much as any of us. Join us._

The memories of the place horrified me. Even after a month away from the place – I often found myself plagued with nightmares.

That's when I felt a sudden lurch and a strike of pain sprang down from my right arm.

I knew instantly it was dislodged.

What took me longer was to realize that Piper was holding onto me, for dear life. With fright, I stared at the depths below.

The hole itself was a straight shot down, the walls on all sides were slanted earthen stone, that looked on the edge of brutal collapse. Around me, pebbles continued to trickle down, a click clack that sounded like a whirl storm of marbles.

Silently, I prayed the walls would hold out.

Hundreds of feet below, the pile of fallen earth must've hit ground.

Although it was too far to make out clearly, I could faintly make out Riptide's dim glow at the top of what must've been the pile of rubble at the bottom. I estimated the fall was another hundred yards down – easy.

"Annabeth!" Piper squealed, panting "I'm not going to hold on much. Longer…"

I didn't have to look up. I could feel Piper's grasp failing. Her hands were sweating, and I could feel my flailing arm slipping.

I steadied myself taking in my surroundings for something useful. Something I can actually do, to avoid an unwelcoming end.

That's when our savior arrived.

"Piper? Annabeth?" Jason's voice echoed from above.

"Jason?" Piper called back.

"I thought you left for Montreal hours ago!" I yelled up, causing the earth to shake around me. I shut my mouth. Jason floated down to where we were flailing for our lives. Careful not to make more noise, Jason leaned into me and held me onto his shoulder.

It was an awkward hug, but Jason managed to collect the both of us. Slowly, we made our ascent, back towards the surface.

It was slow and painful. My arm continued to throb unimaginably. Jason wasn't accustomed with supporting two other people, but somehow we made it to the top.

When we made our way up, Jason dropped us _hard_ into the mud, before collapsing besides us, panting.

"I – I thought you left f – fo – for Montreal ho – hours ago." I repeated in between breaths, while I stared at the darkening sky.

"Yeah, but I stayed behind a bit to make a few storms along the coast," Jason answered me.

"Percy planted him as a distraction while he set up a little picnic at the fist for the two of you. I was supposed to lead you there," Piper added.

I stared at the sky.

"So where's Percy?" I asked already knowing their answer.

Piper sat up uneasily and frowned. "He was supposed to meet us here…"

Jason nodded not looking at her. "I left him at the fist a while ago. Everything was going as planned."

I tried to get up, before I had to muffle a scream of pain, dimming my vision. Piper panicked and pulled Jason in.

"I think I dislodged her arm. We've got to right it!" Piper told her boyfriend, as my vision started to darken. Spots began to fly around. I tried to open my mouth to speak, but nothing responded except for my pain receptors.

The son of Jupiter shuffled urgently over, still exhausted. Jason looked down at me with an awkward expression before pushing me down still.

Piper shoved my arm back into its socket, and I yelped instinctively before falling into unconsciousness.

 **LINEBREAKWANTSAWAFFLE**

 _I was falling._

 _Falling. Falling._

 _Down. Down into the depths._

 _The wind whistled in my ears, as I fell. Around me, the air slowly grew hotter and damper, as if I was falling into the throat of a massive dragon._

 _Someone – Percy – held me close, hugging me tightly in desperation as we both tumbled into the infinite abyss. His lucid black hair ruffled in the air._

 _I took a breath in._

 _Percy's sea breeze aura battled to comfort me as the retched odor of rotten eggs – sulfur engulfed me and began to eat its way through my lungs._

 _I tried not to sob, when I realized where I was. This wasn't real._

 _This wasn't real. It was a dream. A nightmare._

 _Just another nightmare._

I've had plenty of these before, _I thought._

 _That still didn't lessen my horrified expression._

 _I pushed my lips against Percy's ear, thinking of what to say._

" _I love you," I uttered, pouring my heart and soul into the words. Those three simple words._

" _I love you too, Annie."_

 _I was about to snuggle in, to find peace before a terrifying realization came to me._

 _Percy never calls me_ 'Annie.'

 _His cool aura shifted and I tried to squirm away. His hold only tightened._

 _Carefully, I reshifted my form, so I could see his face._

 _Instead of Percy's relaxed smile, I was greeted with Luke's worried frown._

" _Are you okay, Annie?" Luke said with worry. Somehow, I heard his words clearly despite the roaring winds._

 _I struggled to free myself. Luke only held me closer, in a suffocating hold._

" _Get away from me!" I screamed at him. Luke looked shocked._

" _Woah," he cooed. His face lacked the scar he had retrieved during the scandal with the Hesperides. He looked younger, maybe sixteen and his dark blue eyes warmed her with both care – yet, unease. "Where are you going, Annabeth? Don't worry, I'll protect you. We're family, right?"_

 _Luke smiled coolly, like he never betrayed her._

" _No. No! Nooo. This isn't real! Why are you here?!"_

 _Luke looked down at me with pity._

" _Are you feeling alright, Annie?" He asked again. He put his hand up towards her head._

" _No! No! Get away from me. Get – get away." I slapped him and scrambled to get out of his hold._

 _Luke held me down. "Annabeth! Calm down, I've got you."_

 _His voice was different._

" _No, Luke! Get away from me – you – you –"_

" _Luke?" he asked in confusion. Then his face slanted with seriousness._

" _Annabeth, wake up!" he commanded._

 _With a struggle, I pushed away from him, and we spiraled into the darkness._

 **LINEBREAKDIDNTGETHISWAFFLE**

I jolted awake in a freezing sweat. My body felt clammy. My vision blurred with taint shrillness.

The world was spinning.

I squirmed, under a tight hold until I realized where I was.

The camp Infirmary. I was in the camp Infirmary.

Safe.

I wasn't falling in towards Tartarus, once more.

Will Solace, the counselor of the Apollo Cabin looked down at me with a kind and sad smile. He was wearing his usual orange camp t-shirt.

"Are you feeling, alright?" he asked me silently. I tried to sit up, but a shock of pain rang down. I looked towards my arm, to see a huge cast in its place.

Will let go of me, and soothed his cheek. Where I had slapped Luke in my dream.

I looked around, taking in all the details around me. I didn't really need to. I knew I was exactly where I was, but analyzing my surroundings always relaxed me.

The other eleven sick beds that often housed injured campers were all empty. The room was deadly silent, except for my own breathing and the tick – tock of the antique grandfather clock that laid across the room. The ceiling fans were off. The walls were bare, except for a few empty shelves and medical cabinets.

The windows were dark. It was night, and outside the wind howled with fury.

Just like in her dream.

"Annabeth?" Will asked me concerned.

I looked at Will dazed before I realized I hadn't answered his question.

"Yea – Yeah, I'm good," I stuttered. Will's expression eased. He handed me a glass of nectar, which began to drink.

When I first tasted the drink – my stomach wanted a revolt. Usually, nectar reminded one of their most cherished memories. Whatever they considered home, and where they felt loved.

Sometimes, Nectar's taste reminded me of buttered popcorn, sitting on the couch with my father watching stupid and pointless romantic comedy movies that we've both become addicted too.

Sometimes – Nectar reminded me of Luke's special ham sandwiches he had used to make for me often while we were on the run.

Other times, the drink of the gods reminded me of a nice home cooked meal from Camp Half-Blood. Happy times filled with laughter, and eating joyfully and carefree (relatively) with my half-siblings.

But this time was a surprise. The taste was bitter and sour. The drink felt granular on my tongue – like I was being force-fed dry sand from the Sahara. The taste was almost as disgusting as liquid fire.

Which sadly, I had experience with.

"Something wrong?" Will asked me, as he must've caught my disgusted expression.

"Aw. It's fine," I said forcing myself to down retched tasting drink.

"You've been asleep for three days," he told me, avoiding my glance.

I stared at him.

"THREE DAYS?!" I screamed at him, almost dropping the glass. My tired voice echoed in the vacant facility.

Will nodded steadily.

He sighed, "Let me get Piper to come here."

He took the glass from my twitching hand and laid it down on the table besides me.

Coincidentally, the Infirmary's landline laid right beside him. Will picked up the line and clicked in the number ten. (Cabin #10 is Aphrodite)

I counted the seconds, using the rhythm of the clock as a guide.

I only counted to five, before Piper picked up.

"Will?" Piper's exhausted voice spilled from the speaker.

"Yeah, it's me. Annabeth's awake."

There was a pause.

"I'll be right there," Piper responded urgently, before the line went dead.

Will looked back at me, silently, before beginning to a checkup.

"Just making sure you ready to hear what you need to hear," Will warned.

I didn't respond.

All I could think was that dream, with me and Luke falling into hell itself.

* * *

 **The psychology part of the story emerges from the depths! Yesh! Now PTSD is a real topic that everyone should keep in mind of. I really should've planned it, so it landed on Veterans' Day – but, oh well. Crappy scheduling on my part.**

 **Anyway, this chapter kinda combined Annabeth's two worse tragedies, as well as other stuff which I shouldn't say unless I want to spoil the story… Thanks to all who are reading, and especially those who've reviewed/followed/favorited! I wouldn't have gotten this far without any of you!**

 **See you all later, and remember to review!**

 **Best Wishes, from a Junior Scribe of Camp Half Blood**

 **~VCRx**

* * *

 **(This chapter has not been betaed.)**

 **[Last Edited: 4.18.17]**


	7. 6: Percy

**Replies:**

 _Awesome job with the chapter! also good job with the PTSD, it seems believable._ _ **–Omega Alpha Hydra**_

I'm going to pray my computer doesn't crash, because this is the fifth time I'm going to be typing this reply. THANKS, man. I tried my best.

 _Heyo! This chapter was awesome, no lie! I didn't see any mistakes that needed fixing ;) You're good on this one :D Waiting on Chapter 6, but I'm going to work on Chap. 7 before I forget :D This plot line is very interesting ;) You and Maverick have some pretty good ideas. Can't wait for Chapter 6!_ _ **–SoulHorse**_

Hai, did you enjoy that time off from beta-ing, Soul? Lol. Looks like Microsoft Spell Check did your job for you! ;) Yeah…. I was having trouble finishing this one. As I mentioned earlier, my computer has crashed 4 times so far during the making of this chapter. URGH! But I had chapter 7 done because Percy's easier since a lot of it's from the book. Glad the story's interesting. I wouldn't write anymore if it bores you guys.

 _Why does the linebreak have to be a guy?_ _ **–Josh the Pleb**_

Why can't it?

* * *

 **-Part One: Pressed-**

 **Chapter 6: Percy**

 **So I did say that this chapter was going to be an Annabeth one. But….. because of both technical and scheduling issues… I guess chapter 7 and chapter 6 will now switch spots. (If there's any confusion this was originally meant to be chapter 7.)**

 **Oh well. I would've rather had the other chapter. It's kinda like the big reveal-ish moment but I guess you all have to wait until next week. But too make it up to you when it does come, it's gonna be a big one! :D**

* * *

Need to get help…

 _I wanted to lie down there, waiting until I woke up from whatever this was. The only other option was….. time travel. And I highly doubted it was that._

 _But then there was Grover, needing my help. So I managed to haul him up and stagger up the hill, to take in the site of camp. The illusion quickly gave way, since I knew what to expect._

 _The Big house laid hundreds of yards down, and after that, the dining hall and amphitheater._

 _Steadily, I made my way._

 _The last thing I remember is finally giving way, collapsing on the front porch, looking at the ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around the yellow light, and Chiron and Annabeth's stern faces. Annabeth's princess curled hair fluttered in the soft breeze._

" _He's the one. He must be," she said, expectantly._

" _Silence, Annabeth," Chiron soothed. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."_

 _Then, there was black._

 **LINEBREAKATEALLOFVCRXSOREOSDONTTELLHIM**

My dreams were full of barnyard animals. Many of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food.

Unlike last time, where I must've woken up several times, and then passed out in exhaustion and confusion; I was able to wake up on the first time with a start.

Before I even opened my eyes, I jolted up from my slumber.

Only to head butt Annabeth in the jaw.

She yelped in surprise, and jumped back. I hadn't hit her that hard, but my sudden movement seemed to have sure startled her.

I held back laughter as the twelve-year-old version of Annabeth clattered onto the yellow rug carpeted floor.

She looked exactly like how I remembered she'd looked like the first time I met her.

Her long blond hair cascaded passed her shoulders, curled like a princess's.

She was probably a couple of inches taller and me, and a whole lot more athletic. She had a deep tan, and reminded me of a stereotype California girl (Never say that to an Athena girl. It may be true but they'll strangle you). Even with her obvious annoyance, her looked absolutely beautiful. Her startling gray eyes bore into me, in silent analysis.

She glared at me, and started wiping off sips of Ambrosia off her t-shirt.

"Your awake," she muttered.

"Sorry about that," I replied soothing my forehead. I looked around the room taking in all the details. It might be useful later.

Annabeth stood off the ground, placing the feeding spoon and what was left of the ambrosia on the table besides the bed. She dusted off her jeans.

Then she asked the big question, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"

Well that didn't take long.

She looked like she wanted to ask me another million questions, but luckily she knew of my fragile state…

At least, my presumed fragile state…

I hesitated. I didn't know what was happening. One second I was about the propose to my girlfriend, now I was talking to the kid version of her.

This was all too weird.

Silently, I convinced myself to do what Annabeth would do. Don't mess anything up.

Seemed like a plan.

Just don't mess anything up.

Yeah.

"What?" I croaked.

She looked over her shoulder, as if afraid someone would overhear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got weeks!"

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, trying my best confused expression. "I don't…"

Somebody knocked the door, and Annabeth put a finger over her mouth.

 _Not. A. Word._ I inferred.

After a few seconds, Argus, the camp's chief of security barged in. His blue eyes, dozens of them took the entire room by storm. I could tell he quickly noticed that I was awake, and splattered bits of ambrosia on the rug.

He made an expression that ruggedly resembled suspicion, but then must've decided against it.

He shrugged, and stepped aside, out of the way for my best friend to come in.

Looks like I was going to have a party.

"Hey," Grover strolled up to the bedside. He wasn't holding the box with the minotaur horn this time.

That was different from the last time.

Didn't seem important, but you never know…

Annabeth looked back at me one more time, with a threatening glance.

 _If you say anything, I'll kill you!_ She communicated silently.

Argus raised a series of eyebrows.

She took her cue, and left. Argus gently closed the door behind them, as they seemed to think Grover and I should have some time by ourselves.

"Hey," I said, not knowing what to say.

Talk about awkward.

He handed me a tall glass. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry.

My hand wrapped around it, and gingerly took huge gulps. It tasted like cookies. Not just any cookies, but my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookie, buttery and hot, with the chips still melting.

Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy.

I've tasted in dreams, but never this real. Never this vivid.

"Careful!" Grover said, trying to not shout.

I raised an eyebrow, before I drained the rest of the drink of the gods.

"Was it good?" Grover asked.

I nodded.

"What did it taste like?" his voice sounded so wistful. I felt kind of sorry satyrs weren't able to experience the greatness, that was nectar.

"Chocolate cookies," I found myself saying. "My mom's. Homemade."

He sighed at my response, making me realized I had never let him try one of my mom's famous cookies.

Next time I see him I should invite him over.

At least, when I woke up.

The problem was I couldn't. I was awake. Well, I felt awake.

Maybe it was one of those things normal people had?

What were they called?

Lucid Dreams?

"And how do you feel?" Grover asked, jarring me from my thoughts.

"Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards."

"That's good," he said blandly. "That's good. I don't think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff."

"Why not?" I asked even though I already knew the response.

He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite. Too be fair, the stuff was probably more dangerous than ten tons of dynamite if used right.

"Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting for you."

"Great," I replied, taking off my covers. I slid off the bed, before almost falling down.

Grover tried to offer me some help, but I declined.

"I can do it, Grover. Just give me a minute."

I hauled myself up. My legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. We made it through the hallway, and past the front door, until we were on the back porch of the house.

I stared at the scene before me. Ahead of me in the distance, was the northern shore of Long Island. The landscape in between was dotted with buildings that were made of a mix-mash of Ancient Greek architecture and summer camp etiquette.

I looked around, spying the open-air pavilion, the arena, and the amphitheater.

Canoes glided across the small sparkling lake.

In a nearby sandpit, a dozen campers, and satyrs some of which I recognized, were in a midst of an intense volleyball match.

There were another million things going on, but my mind was going to explode. Everybody – Everything looked younger.

I faltered.

Down at the end of the porch, two men and Annabeth sat around a card table. A forth seat was sparse of another player.

The man facing me, I quickly recognized as Mr. D.

AKA Dionysus, the god that will be the pain in my hinder for the next five years.

He was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes and curly hair so black it was almost purple. Mr. D looked like one of those baby angels – what do you call them? Cherubs? Yeah, I think that was right.

He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger patterned Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in at one of Gabe's poker parties. Only I knew this guy could probably out-gamble pretty much everybody.

"That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than pretty much anybody. And you already know Chiron…"

He pointed at the guy whose back was towards me. I quickly recognized his tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, and his magic wheelchair.

"Mr. Brunner," I feigned surprise.

The disguised centaur turned and smiled at me. His eyes had the mischievous glint they sometimes got when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice answers, B.

"Ah, good Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle." He offered me the seat to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh.

"Oh, I supposed I must say it. Welcome to Camp half-Blood. There. Now don't expect me to be glad to see you."

"Uh, thanks sir," I nodded trying to sound respectful. The safe route sounded like the best one.

"Annabeth?" Chiron looked towards Annabeth who sat across from me. She looked up from her hand. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy."

Annabeth looked at me with neutral intention.

I squirmed under her gaze. "Sorry about bumping into your jaw back there…"

I was expecting some acknowledgement of the apology, but instead, she answered back with: "You drool when you sleep."

"Uh, thanks." I replied. _Seriously, Annabeth?_

Mr. D took a sip from his coke.

"So," I said, anxious to change the subject. "You, eh, work here Mr. Brunner?"

"Not Mr. Brunner," Chiron corrected. "I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. You can call me Chiron."

"Okay…" I said, trying to look confused once more. I was probably going to be doing a lot of that. "And Mr. D… does that stand for something?"

Dionysus glanced up from his hand, looking at me like I had just belched loudly. "Young man, names are powerful things. You just don't go around and using them with no reason."

"Oh. Right. Sorry, sir."

Dionysus grunted.

"I must say, Percy," Chiron broke in. "I'm glad to see you alive and taking this all in so well. It's been a long time since I've made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time."

"House call?"

"My year at Yancy Academy to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course, keeping lookout. But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something special, so I decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to… ah, take a leave of absence.

"You came to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked, maybe a little too quickly.

Chiron nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother, let her know we were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still had so much to learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the first test."

I nodded silently as Annabeth revealed the game winning hand. Dionysus sighed stubbornly.

"Which reminds me, Grover," Chiron said. "Why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in Cabin Eleven for now."

That's different. Annabeth's supposed to go. Grover's supposed to stay.

"Yessir," Grover said. He clumsily saluted before trotting off towards the cabins.

After a super deluxe shuffle, Mr. D began to deal the cards.

Then he paused at me.

"You do know how to play pinochle," Mr. D eyed me with suspicion.

"Umm, actually I do," I stated, surprising everyone.

Dionysus' frown curved up in admiration.

"Well, finally! A boy with understanding of the fine arts," Dionysus glanced with an approving nod. "It is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games ever invented by humans. I would expect all civilized men to know the rules!"

He slapped me on the back with pride. It was almost fatherly.

This was getting too weird.

"So…" I murmured as I bid. "What is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun – Chiron – why would you go to Yancy Academy just to teach me?"

Mr. D sighed. "I asked the same question."

Chiron smiled at me sympathetically.

"Percy," he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?"

"She said…" I closed my eyes in thought. "She told me she was afraid to send me here, even though my father had wanted me to be here. She said that once I got here, I probably couldn't leave. She wanted to keep me close to her."

"Typical," Mr. D said whiling bidding. "That's how they're usually killed."

"I am afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "The orientation would not be sufficient."

"Orientation Film?" I said curiously. I had never gotten to see it.

Chiron waved the idea away.

"No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know you defeated the minotaur. No small feat, either, lad. What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods – the forces you call the Greek gods – are very much alive."

I blinked at the statement, waiting for something to happen. I formulate a comment to what Chiron had just said.

"Gre – Greek gods?" I stuttered out.

Annabeth's expectant glare bore into me. She had been quiet for the past for questions. I could tell she was trying to decide my parentage.

I looked to Chiron, looking him up and down.

"Chiron sounds familiar," I said.

"That is right. I am Chiron, the same one in the myths."

"You trained the original Perseus?" I asked.

He nodded. "Very good, Perseus Jackson. I remember that was one of the few on your test you had answered correctly. #42."

I turned to Mr. D.

"Are you a god?"

Everyone looked at him strange. Like he had just grown a second head.

Chiron murmured, "Where would you get that idea?"

Dionysus narrowed his eyes. "You make it sound like he's wrong."

The think stench of grapevines appeared.

"So," I said. "Umm, grapes. Card games. Mr.D. Dionysus?"

Dionysus turned to me.

"Young man," Dionysus said. "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around if I were you."

"But you are Dionysus, right?"

Dionysus nodded, appreciative of being recognized.

I turned to Chiron. "So all those lessons about Greek gods in Latin class were because you were trying to prepare me?"

Chiron almost looked embarrassed. "Yes. It seemed like the most appropriate option at the time. I admit, it was a stretch at first, but it looks like you have made quick use of the knowledge, Percy Jackson. I am impressed."

Annabeth interrupted, "So your mother is mortal?"

I nodded. "For sure. Why?"

"That would make your father the godly one."

Chiron glared at her, as if she wasn't supposed to have reveal that critical piece of information yet.

I looked at her blankly.

"What?"

Chiron sighed defeat. "Percy, in the Greek myths you studied, do you remember what the Greek gods often found themselves having?"

I stared at him.

"No." I said.

Chiron nodded slowly, Annabeth trying to make sense of every inch of my facial reaction.

"Wait….. no!" I feigned, trying to sound amazed by a new revelation. "You mean – I'm a demigod?"

Remember that plan to not change anything? Yeah, I had forgotten about that.

"Wait." I said, trying to look confused. Again.

"If their Greek gods, why are they in America?"

"Of course the gods would be in America. The gods move with the heart of the West."

"The what?"

"Come now, Perseus. What you call 'Western Civilization.' Do you think that is an abstract concept?"

I stared blankly.

Chiron sighed.

"No, it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are a part of it. The fire started in Greece, but then as you well know, it has moved. To Rome, to Germany, France, Spain, England, and now America. Oh different names have been used over the centuries, Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and so on – but the same forces the same gods."

I nodded, not wanting another lecture. I had already heard all of this.

Chiron started to stand up. I stared as his horse form emerge from the magical wheelchair.

"What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there for so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now come, Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other campers."

* * *

 **Another chapter done. Most of it was just a repeated telling from The Lightning Thief, but you may have noticed some differences… Anyone taking notes? On another note, has anyone seen my Oreos?**

 **Best Wishes, from a Junior Scribe of Camp Half-Blood,**

 **~VCRx**

* * *

 **Note from the Beta:**

 **Hi everyone! It's SoulHorse! Anyone miss me? No? Oh well, your loss. Hopefully the author missed me! :D** _ **(VCRx: Yes. Definitely. Maverick is complete s*** with grammar.)**_

 **So yeah, been busy with life and crap.** _ **Pressed**_ _ **for time**_ **, if you wanna put it that way! XDDD**

 **Now, IMMA BACK! And great chapter as always! Hm…wondering why some things are different. But I do know what's happening to Percy ;) Hopefully I got all the errors :)**

 **So, don't forget to leave some reviews (I know my boss sure loves them ;) ) and favorites and follows and as always, please check out my many unfinished stories! *smiles broadly and spreads arms like an advertiser* Yeah…this is getting too weird…Until next time!**

 **~ Yours in demigoddishness, SoulHorse**

 **[Last Edited 4.18.2017]**


	8. 7: Annabeth

**Replies:**

 _I'm curious to know how the changes will effect Percy's future/present/past... Keep writing!_ _ **–LizCraft**_

Thanks Liz! Asking questions are good.

 _oh look... a page from mine... an entire chapter where nothing extra happens... glad to see it catch on... you can thank me later...;p_ _ **–Josh the Pleb**_

More like a whole chapter from Rick. Thanks. I guess.

 _awesome chapter, remember to deviate a little, I did like Percy knowing Mr D and how to play Pinochle, it makes it less infuriating to read that scene. Good luck with the computer issues man!_ _and yes SoulHorse, we missed you, VCRx's grammar and punctuation is terrible like I have seen better from a barely literate toddler (jkkinda). also now that you're back can you tell me who the mean guy is bcus VCRx is being an arse and won't tell methough he said that you know it so pleaseeeeeeeeee? *insert Percy's baby seal eyes here*_ _ **–Omega Alpha Hydra**_

Thanks for being patient with me. I promise it'll be worth the wait. And the computer issues live on. Third time I've written this reply.

 _Dude LINEBREAK took your oreos. go get him!_ _ **–Pikachupercyharryfirestar**_

WHAT? REALLY? FUUUUU

* * *

 **-Part One: Pressed-**

 **Chapter 7: Annabeth**

 **Hey guys! It's the super long important chapter you've all been waiting for! YAY! Thank the gods I'm finally finished.**

 **So SoulHorse has been** _ **really**_ **busy with personal IRL stuff, so it looks like this chapter will be go unbetaed. Sigh.**

 **A video that might help you understand what the wheats' motions will look like:** _**www . youtube watch?v=5v5eBf2KwF8**_ **(Metronome Synchronization). Okay, here we go!**

* * *

 _ **Last time with Annabeth:**_

 _Will sighed, "Let me get Piper to come here."_

 _He took the glass from my twitching hand and laid it down on the table besides me._

 _Coincidentally, the Infirmary's landline laid right beside him._

 _He picked up the line and clicked in the number ten._

 _I counted the seconds, using the rhythm of the clock as a guide._

 _I only counted to five, before Piper picked up._

" _Will?" Piper's exhausted voice spilled from the speaker._

" _Yeah, it's me. Annabeth's awake."_

 _There was a pause._

" _I'll be right there," Piper responded urgently, before the line went dead._

 _Will looked back at me, silently, before taking my vitals._

" _Just making sure you ready to hear what you need to hear," Will warned._

 _I didn't respond._

 _All I could think was that dream, with me and Luke falling into hell itself._

 **WHATISPUNCTUATION**

Piper came in crashing through the door just as Will was finishing with my examination.

"Is she okay?" Piper questioned, looking at me with a worried glance as she barged into the room.

Her normally cute and scruffy hair (Jason's words. Not mine.) looked completely disheveled as if she'd just stepped through a hurricane. Her face wasn't much better. Piper's bloodshot eyes looked absolutely tired with exhaustion a sign that Piper hadn't had a good night of sleep.

Her rumpled orange tee and Cherokee eagle sweats were dripping wet.

"Her insides are doing just as I expected. But her right forearm is still fractured. Even with the Ambrosia and Nectar, it'll take at least another week at best before it heals fully." Will responded tiredly.

Piper came up and squished me with a death hug, but was careful enough not to touch my broken arm.

Then she started crying.

"We were so worried. I thought I almost killed you," she sobbed into my shoulder.

Will smiled at the scene from a distance with endearment. "I'll leave you two to… discuss our recent developments… I'll be in my office if you need me."

He sauntered tiredly away to his office – meaning his bunk at Cabin Seven – and Piper and I watched as Will escaped through the doors.

After Will left, Piper brought her attention back to me and leaned in steadily.

"So, how've you been feeling?" Piper asked, as she sat down on the bunk beside my own. She picked up Will's notes and quickly gleamed over it.

"Like I can throw that clipboard at you from a hundred yards."

Piper laughed and evidently checked off some box on a list.

Piper leaned it. "Will's left me a list of questions that I'm supposed to ask you. It's the little mind test you recommended this morning that we should implement. You know – in case of a concussion."

Piper tapped the side of her head as a demonstration.

I nodded.

"So. Can you recite your full name?"

I bit my tongue. "Annabeth Chase."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "Can I get a _full_ name?"

"Piper, we've already established this. I'm not telling you or anybody here. It's too embarrassing."

Piper grumbled a reply that I didn't hear, but reluctantly check off another box.

"Color of your hair?" Piper chanted. I blew a strand of my pale blond hair away from my face.

"Blonde," I said.

"My hair?"

"Well let's see. It's kind of this dark cinnamon tone with maybe a little caramel br – "

"You make me sound like delicious," Piper laughed once more.

She put her hand up and brought up 3 fingers.

"How many fingers am I holdin' up?"

"Three."

"Parentage?"

"Yours or mine?"

"Yours?"

"Frederick Chase, professor at the University of – "

Piper coughed. "Their names. Not their occupations."

"Frederick Chase and Athena."

"Hmph," Piper said, before carelessly tossing the clipboard aside.

"Was that really it?" I asked cautiously.

Piper waved the idea away. "Will had a few more big and complex questions for you to answer, but I'm sure you're fine."

Then, the daughter of Aphrodite's eyes melted with unease, and her shoulders drooped to an even further level. She sighed heavily – a look of deep thought stained her expression.

Whatever she was about to say – it wasn't going to be pleasant news.

"Okay. But before you say anything else, you have to let me get through everything that's happened, okay? Once you let me finish – then you can explode."

I stared at her pointedly.

"First off - Percy's missing," Piper blabbered out with haste.

I stared at her, in distraught. The news bared down onto me like a heavy anchor. But strangely enough, I found my voice without a beat.

" – and?"

Piper looked at me like I just grew another head.

"What?" I asked her. It was a rash statement but my mind was already wandering. Thinking of where Percy could be and what new threat might've emerged to bring this ordeal.

Piper continued to look at me strangely. "I – I just thought there would be – well – more emotion. Heck, the first time I met you, you were on the brink of a mental breakdown because he was missing!"

I took a moment to absorb her words.

She was right.

I should've been more torn. I should've reacted without a rest, and jumped at the chance to start a search. That's what I had done only 9 months ago…

But here I was, rationally controlling my riveting emotions.

I sighed, before straightening out my muddled hair.

"I don't know," I said. Yes. I said that. "Maybe it's the fact that this is the second – no the third time he's gone missing. Maybe it's the fact that I'm just about used to having some world-ending catastrophe on the edge of happening every two weeks. Maybe – "

I laughed bitterly – which was very unlike me. "Here I am laughing. I sound insane. Annabeth Chase. Laughing! Maybe I've lost my mind! I'm used to it now. The struggle. The heartbreak. The torment. At times like this I think I'm one of the Fates' –"

Piper gently placed her hand onto my shoulder. She looked down with me with worry.

"Maybe we should finish that concussion test."

 **HSIDRAWKCABSKAEPSKAERBEINL**

It turned out – I did actually have a concussion; although I worried that it was only partly accountable of my earlier monologue.

I was told – while being carried back on the stretcher from the woods, a couple campers _accidentally_ dropped me and I face planted into the grass.

After Will came back, after having about five seconds of sleep – and treated me as best he could. Piper told me to get some sleep; and that we'd discuss the rest in the morning.

She looked like she hated the idea not telling me immediately the camp's problems as much as I did, but she kept the information inside.

For the night – I laid in bed with nothing to accompany me except for my wandering thoughts.

That's the problem with being a child of Athena.

You could never escape your thoughts.

 _That_ , and the fact my body already felt well rested from my three-day slumber kept me wide awake. I was tempted to attempt escape and possibly begin to search for information.

But two obstacles stopped me.

One: my casted arm – which was still supported by equipment. I suspected I wasn't going anywhere – at least without help – for hours. At the very least – until the Ambrosia had finished mending her arm.

Two was Piper. She laid in a semi-peaceful slumber in the bunk to the left of my own. I could tell she was deep asleep, but I calculated an 80% chance of Piper stopping me before I even made it half way towards the door.

And so I stared at the Infirmary's ceiling to keep my wandering mind occupied.

The ceiling featured a mosaic painting of the city of Olympus. It was one of my most favorite; Kayla Knowles and Enrico Pintura had really done a good job with the artwork.

The mural perfectly captured the original Olympian skyline – the one that had been featured before the Second Titan War.

The golden dome atop of the Olympian Counsel gleamed – even more brilliant than the real thing. The city that sprawled along the sides of the mountain shone. Even in the dim light – it was hard to tell it was night. The mural almost glowed by its own.

But I knew that was just an optical illusion. The paint was merely just very reflexive with light.

Various depictions of gods and heroes were scattered among the scene.

Apollo flew in his solar chariot.

Zeus sat atop the dome.

Hermes flew with his winged sandals among the clouds.

Athena was standing at the top steps of the Grand Olympian Library.

The image was so realistic; I could have almost imagined being on the scene itself. One in an endless crowd in the markets at the bottom.

It would've been a false assessment if I said I wasn't mesmerized by it. It was just one in the collection of murals that were randomly placed throughout camp.

Although I had led the renovations, I had never had this much time to observe in detail the masterpiece.

The painting was so lifelike. The image flashed me back to simpler times.

Times when every day seemed a lot more uneventful, and I – as ignorant as I was – was waiting for a chance for adventure.

Somewhere during my long silent thoughts, I began to realize I was no longer in my bunk, but instead, I laid on a freezing etched surface. Cobbled stone. My eyes readjusted away from the mirage of the portrait and I found myself in a dark bricked room.

The space was circular – and around me, from four sides stood huge engraved doors. The doors loomed above me as I stood up, trying to analyze my surroundings.

The doors themselves seemed to have been etched and inscribed in some methods. I made out a few patterns throughout the glyphs.

The language felt alien. As if its existence couldn't and wasn't made to be read my mortal eyes. The texts looked older.

Older than the gods…

The place was dark – though it was pretty obvious the room was lit. The problem was, I couldn't exactly find an exact illuminant. The room itself glowed in this sort of marroon-ish aura manner.

The walls were heavy slates, engrossed with decades of dust and mold. There was a sheer lack of signs of life. And I doubted there had been much in the consequential past.

The room intrigued me. Usually in a dream – and I knew this was a dream. Demigod dreams always had this – itching feeling about them. Once you've had a few, it was pretty easy to recognize the feeling and immediate understand you were with a dream.

Usually, in a dream – the small details remained fuzzy, and often would be cut sort when whatever you were supposed to see had already occur.

Dreams are fluid things, but precise. Whatever this dream wanted to show me, it had yet to happen.

Finally, as patient and unobtrusive as I was, I decided it was time to open of the doors. The doors themselves were identical in every sort of way I inspected them.

With a heavy hand, the door creaked ajar, with surprising little resistance. Beyond, an eerie tunnel with similar build as the circular meandered forward. The maroon aura became thick and opaque with distance and my vision ended about thirty – maybe forty yards away.

With each reluctant step forward, the air seemed to rise around me. The walls – on either side – began to angle inwards and the tunnel slowly grew claustrophobic.

It wasn't a tight fit. The dug and bricked out tunnel still stood five feet wide and the curved slab ceiling was a good yard above my head.

Nevertheless – that space did nothing to lighten my anxiousness.

What was this dream's meaning?

Finally, after about five bends later in the tunnel, the tunnel slanted steeply upwards, and I had to climb my way up using the cobbled etches in the flooring and hand and foot-holds.

When I reached the top, I found myself in the middle of a field of wheat.

As I climbed out, the tunnel in which I had emerged from faded from existence, leaving soiled dirt in its place.

I wouldn't be going back _that_ route.

I took a glance around at my new surroundings.

The air was warm and bitter in taste.

Stars dotted the sky and the Milky Way gleamed like an artists' wide stroke of watered paint.

The wheat around me stood about as high as my neck – and covered every inch of the horizon in a full three-sixty.

There was nothing but stalks of wheat. Millions of them.

I stood at the lone patch of land devoid of the crop.

Then, the stalks all of them hummed and began a chaotic dance around me simultaneously. Their movement consisted a seemingly random assortment of twirls, spins and swings. Each at their own rhythmic beat.

The air echoed and a click-clack along with whoosh and ruffles that sprouted from the movements.

I sensed I was not alone…

"Show yourself!" I screamed. Normally that was not a recommended line to start a conversation with a powerful being, but it was a dream, and I was growing surprisingly impatient with each second.

"Tsk. Tsk." The Wheat around me whispered from a thousand directions.

"Annabeth Aoenai Chase. The daughter of Wisdom. Yet clueless and lost in your emotions. I expected _so_ much more."

The wheat stalks began to organize their rhythms, seemingly finally finding a common beat. In growing unison – the slack and swing of stalks rang out like a huge march of an incoming army.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" I yelled at the plants. Whoever I was speaking with, they were _not_ a friend. But they knew me. They knew me.

No one knew my middle name. Only my parents did. Even Percy had yet to learn…

"Oh, I think you would be surprised, daughter of Athena." The voice around me laughed. The voice was an echo that repeated itself a thousand times.

It was distinctly male – with a monotonous tone, but less than anything else could be made out.

"A friend. Friend. What is a friend. The concept had always escaped me. But recently, I have learned much. Gained much. Lost much. But I've grown in strengths. Strengths that would frighten anyone that would oppose me when the time is right."

The ground below my feet fell away, leaving me floating up into the air. I felt as my form – or it's dream version rather – began to fly into the aether.

I rose among the clouds, losing control. At least, if I had any in the first place…

"Friends," the voice cooed. It was growing deeper. And becoming strangely familiar…

But the connection escaped me.

"Friends," the voice repeated. "It is true – godling. I knew you much more than one may be comfortable with. In some ways, I may know you more well than even the ones most closest to you. You might say – I will know your every emotion. Every idea. Every move.

The voice lacked any sort of emotion, but I could almost make out an image of an ugly grim smirk behind the thick words.

Yet, I could feel those words holding a weight of truth.

 _Your ever move._

"Which is why I bring you this. An ultimatum. I am sure – you'll find them, _manageable_ on your end."

I began to speak in protest, but my voice failed me.

"Bring the items to the Architect's Workshop by the Equinox's dawn. Do not fail me – else the results would be quite dire."

The clouds blew past me and I came upon a gruesome scene.

Manhattan – the city as a whole – turning into ruins.

Skyscrapers had collapsed. Fires ran ramped. Smoke and screams filled the atmosphere. The scene resembled hell itself.

My dream-self flew and landed with a stop on the lone surviving apex.

The Empire State Building.

I landed with surprising ease, and watched from atop the observation deck with horror at the scope of a collapsing city.

Manhattan, New York.

The pinnacle.

The center and symbol of Western Achievement.

Ablaze.

"Are you pleased with what you see?" the voice whispered into my ears, as if they were standing right next to me.

I turned my head with hesitance at watched as scattered shadows began to ooze together and form a shape along the wall.

A shadow of a figure, one that lacked a source of projection.

The shadow grew from the wall and took form. The figure was definitely humanoid. That much – could have been said with confidence. A rough outline took shape, a head, a thin frame, with legs and arms.

The figure towered over me, grappled in dizzying dark shadows.

In many ways, it reminded me of the giant Clytius. The only difference was that this figure was a lot more leaner – yet radiated with much more power.

"Well?" the voice snarled.

The statement came out as a threat, yet I knew that if I was in any danger, the danger would've already happened. If the thing could or wanted to, I would already be dead. I spun around to take another long stare at the gruesome scene. My stomach twisted with disgust.

"Why –" I stuttered finding my words. "Why would I want this?!"

The figure stepped forward to take a place besides me. He leaned on the railing with a relaxed posture, which infuriated me.

"This could be your reward. But it is not finished. Watch." He gestured forward, directing me as the scene ahead began to real in speed. In amazement I watched as the city to rise back up. Construction cranes rose in place, and filled the foreground. Not before long I realized what I was being shone.

New York. Being built the way I would've built it. A fine mixture of modern-esque build with ancient marble architecture. Inspired by works I had seen from books. Daedalus' ideas. New Rome.

The figure nodded, pleased with my conclusion.

"I will bring a _new age_ for civilization. I have learned much. Experienced much. I plan to bring change. But before change can rise, the old must first fall," the figure spoke in continuance.

I stood there amazed at the worlds. And for a brief moment, I was enchanted with the idea.

 _A new world._

One better than ever before.

But then I realized what was laced behind the speech. An end of one world for a new one. I stared at my beautiful design of a city once more with a melancholic frown.

The figure sighed, "I see you do not agree. Admittedly, I did not expect you be compliant in the idea – at least at first – but it was worth a try."

There was no emotion, but I sensed…. Disappointment.

Then the figure straightened. "If you do not accept my _generous_ offer, I guess I must use my other game card."

 _Ding!_

Behind us, a set of elevator doors opened. Out, came Percy.

Blood streaked across his face. His stance was stupor, with exhaustion. His chest heaved, like he'd run twice a marathon to make it here.

His clothes were torn. He stood barefoot.

He unsheathed a blade that was not his own. A blade I would've thought I would never see again.

 _Backbiter._

"Percy!" I yelled.

Percy didn't acknowledge even my existence. He only stared menacingly at the figure in shadows.

"You," Percy said with a pant. He struggled forward with resilience, yet it was obvious that he favored his left leg.

He almost collapsed with exhaustion, and I ran forward. But as I ran to catch him, my hand went through his.

"Me," the figure said brightly, in a mocking tone.

"What have you done with Annabeth?! Where is she?" Percy persisted. He pointed the blade forward.

"Annabeth!" the figure burst out in amusement. "The daughter of Athena, you mean?"

I became frozen, locked, forced to watch this unruly scene unravel by its own terms.

Percy gritted his teeth. "Where. Is. She. Now!"

The figure placed his arms up, not with surrender, but with open welcoming arms. He laughed.

Enraged, Percy charged. But as the same as I had with him, Percy ran straight threw the shadow, and collapsed abruptly when he ran through.

Percy began to cough up a mixture of crimson and pure black smog.

His dazzling green eyes began to dim.

The figure turned around and stared at the fading existence of the Son of Poseidon.

"Great effort, Perseus Jackson. If only your efforts proved to be effective." As I watched in horror, the figure grabbed Percy by the throat and raised him up high, letting Percy's legs dangle in the air.

"But sadly, you are merely a pawn. A stepping stone. One of many keys to unlock an inevitable destiny."

Percy's eyes rolled up into his head; his breaths became loose and far.

The figure let loose the flailing corpse. Percy's crumpled form dropped like a rag doll onto the ground. But with relief, he was still alive.

Then, he put his attention back towards me.

"Everything you have seen has yet to happen," the figure warned. " _Your_ actions and willingness to comply will determine whether I will be merciful…" There was a pause. "Or whether I am not." The figure delved his arm within himself and pulled at another blade from the illusive shadows.

 _Riptide_.

With a single blur of movement, the figure swung around and delved Percy's own blade right into his chest.

 _Chuck,_ the sound of blood bubbled.

 _No!_ I tried to scream but my voice became clogged.

"What was that you were saying Annabeth? I didn't hear you," the figure's voice chanted.

I tried to speak once more, but the scene faded.

* * *

 **Hope you guys enjoyed that! Exciting stuff actually happened! :D**

 **I'm such a tedious writer. I know, it's a lot more interesting when we find out immediately what's up, but I suck at writing quick beginnings. But we're here, and the adventure starts! A personal thanks for being patient with me!**

 **Best Wishes, from a Junior Scribe of Camp Half Blood**

 **~VCRx**

* * *

 **(This chapter has not been betaed.)**

 **[Last Edited: 4.18.17]**


	9. 8: Percy

**Replies:**

 _NOO! You can't just end the chapter like that!_ _ **–LizCraft**_

HAhaHa! If you liked that ending, you'll love the end of the book! :P

 _This was awesome!_ _ **–Egplant (Guest)**_

umg. My first guest review? Thanks! I'll try to keep it up!

 _awesome chapter dude, loved the dream scene!_ _ **–Omega Alpha Hydra**_

Thanks man, glad you loved that glimpse into my inner soul.

 _dude u should fire linebreak he just hit his keyboard for the line break_ _ **–Pikachupercyharryfirestar**_

NUIJUSTSPEAKSBACKWARDS **–LINEBREAKISTRILINGUAL**

 _meh... go back to Percy in the past... :p not dissing your work! it's good! I just prefer the past events... :p_ _ **–Josh the Pleb**_

Back to Percy's POV? That's what you want? Not continue from that big Annabeth cliff hanger? OKIE…. I was going to go write where we left off with Annabeth, but if you rather read Percy's situation, I guess I can do that… O_o

 _I just read the first chapter and its soo mysterious and good. On I go to the next chapter_ _ **–ImpossibleThings12**_

Thanks, man! Two guest reviews in the same day? UMG, I feel special. Glad you liked it, I did my best to set the scene and mood of the story as well as possible with that prologue.

 _Luke?!_ _I mean it seems like a ghostified slightly possessed version. _And nooo you can't hurt Percy! Also amazing writing and once again nooooo I just started reading yesterday you can't take long to update! (Jk but still) Can't wait for the next chapter!_ _ **–ImpossibleThings12**_

Luke is a REALLY good guess. I mean, why would Backbiter be there unless Luke's in the story? Sadly, I will neither confirm or deny that. And sorry about the December hiatus. I just have a lot on my plate lately and my backlog of chapters was starting to wear thin…

* * *

 **-Part One: Pressed-**

 **Chapter 8: Percy**

 **HOLY HESTIA! Wow guys, I've got to say, thanks so much for all the support so far in this story. While I had some hopes this story would be more successful than my older one, 31 FOLLOWS? WAT?**

 **You have no idea how surprised I was. I hadn't checked the follower count since the beginning of November, when it was at only 2 follows, lol. AND 35 REVIEWS TO MATCH IT? What THE actual... That might be little to some people, but it's the world for me! Thanks again for all the support! You guys are awesomesauce! :D**

 **SO I know I left you guys with a huge cliffie last time we talked, but Josh the Pleb** _ **really**_ **wanted some Percy chapters, so that's what I did. ;P**

* * *

 _ **Last time with Percy**_

 _I stared blankly._

 _Chiron sighed._

" _No, it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are a part of it. The fire started in Greece, but then as you well know, it has moved. To Rome, to Germany, France, Spain, England, and now America. Oh different names have been used over the centuries, Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and so on – but the same forces the same gods."_

 _I nodded, not wanting another lecture. I had already heard all of this._

 _Chiron started to stand up. I stared as his horse form emerge from the magical wheelchair._

" _What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been couped up in there for so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now come, Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other campers."_

Once I got over the fact that I was going receive another tour of the camp, we had a nice tour, though I was careful not reveal the fact that I already knew my way around.

We passed the volleyball pit. Several campers, many of them I recognized, nudged each other. One pointed at me, and mumbled, "Look, a newbie."

Most of the campers looked between fourteen and twenty. Their satyr friends were all bigger than Grover; all of them trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts. I would've introduced myself, but they all stared at me strangely. I felt like they were expecting me to do a flip of something.

We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while Erin the satyr played a tune on his reed pipe to encourage the plants to grow.

Chiron told me how the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mt. Olympus. "It pays for our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."

I nodded in understanding. Dionysus had that effect on crops like that. Only wine grapes grew better, but he was restricted from growing those, so the camp grew strawberries instead.

After a more well-explained lecture about _'the intricacies of Strawberry farming_ ,' which was totally fascinating, as Chiron put it, he led me towards the woods.

The woods are huge, just like how I remembered them. With my shortened height, they towered above me. I could almost imagine that nobody had been in their since the Native Americans.

Piper would've have probably killed me at the comparison.

Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go in armed."

"Stocked with what?" I asked.

"You'll see. Capture the Flag is Friday night. Do you own your own sword and shield?"

I shook my head, not looking at him.

"No," Chiron sighed. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size 5 will do. I'll visit the armory later."

I wanted to correct him that I was a size 10, but I realized that I was smaller now.

Afterwards, he showed me the rest of the camp. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, and the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much), the javelin range, the amphitheater, and the arena. I tried to act surprised and amazed at everything I saw, but it was hard work.

"Sword and spear fights?" I asked, as we passed the arena while there was an intense match. I didn't recognize the campers through their armor.

"Cabin challenges and all that," Chiron replied. "Not lethal. Usually. Oh yes, then there's the mess hall."

He pointed towards the open air pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were about a dozen stone picnic tables – one for each god – but no roof. No walls.

"What do you do when it rains?" I asked. It seemed like a fair question when one didn't know that the camp's boundaries always dispersed any incoming clouds.

Chiron looked at me as if I had asked him if he was proud of his father's accomplishments.

"We still have to eat, don't we?" He responded flatly.

I decided to drop the subject.

Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a big U with two at the base and 5 in a row on each side. I looked at the various combinations of architecture.

After the Titan War, Annabeth had decided to remodel so much of the camp – especially the cabins – that many of the cabins had received a complete makeover. Many more were rebuilt, and since I had been gone for so long, I had almost forgotten much what the cabins had looked like before the remodel.

They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flowerbeds, and a couple of basketball hoops.

In the center of the field, was the huge stone lined fire pit. Despite the warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending to the flames.

I don't know why, but this time I felt like I was being drawn there. Kinda like that time when Grover, Annabeth and I had been drawn to Auntie M's Garden Gnome Emporium.

"Hey," I managed, taking a seat about a foot or two away from the girl. I stared as the flames of the hearth flickered between warm shades of orange and yellow.

Hestia looked up from her flames with a kind but melancholic smile.

"Greetings, hero," the hearth goddess acknowledged.

I stared at her.

"Wait, are you talking to me?" I blurted out. I hoped it didn't come out mean. I was going for a more surprised approached.

Hestia kindly nodded.

I faltered. "I'm no hero," I said, meaning it.

I thought about everything I've ever done. Every adventure or quest I've ever experienced. Everything everyone had given me credit for.

In my mind, almost none of it was actually my accomplishments. It had always been someone else.

Someone else's choice. Someone else's sacrifice that had saved the day.

It had been Luke who had beat Kronos. He sacrificed himself to right his wrongs. Leo flew into the sky, knowing he would die in battle, yet he sacrificed himself to save his friends against the Earth mother, Gaea.

Every time, it had always been someone. Someone's accomplishments. I was just the lucky guy with the fancy sword that somehow survived each time.

"I only beat one bull-man," I mumbled, mostly to myself.

Hestia smiled at the comment.

"Humble words, Perseus Jackson." Hestia murmured. "I like heroes who are not overconfident in themselves."

"Uh. Thanks." I stammered, looking up from the flames. "But, uh. How do you know my name?"

The goddess stared back into the flames. Her eyes glowed with warmth, like a mother's loving smile. The hearth. A place of comfort and refuge.

"I am Hestia. Goddess of the Hearth, and home," the goddess explained silently. "One may not always know where their home lies, but home will always know you."

I quickly bowed. "Lady Hestia."

It still felt weird sometimes that I had to bow to people that looked younger than me.

Hestia frowned at him. "None of that, Perseus Jackson. I do not bold well, being honored in that way. Visiting the hearth is more than enough."

I nodded.

"May I ask," Hestia leaned in, "What made you choose to come here?"

"Uh, a minotaur chased me into here," I answered uneasily.

Hestia shook her head. "That was not what I meant. Why have you come, to visit hearth? Most ignore home unless they seek a same refuge. They are lost, finding their way home."

I frowned at the question. "I – I don't know," I answered as honestly as possible. I didn't want to lie to the goddess, yet I didn't feel safe enough yet to explain to anyone my current – predicament. "It just felt right."

The goddess stared at me with a fiery gaze.

It could've been five years or five seconds, but finally the goddess nodded at my response and smiled.

"That response will do, hero."

I shook my head again.

"Don't call me that. I'm not a hero."

Hestia's smile darkened.

"Not for long at least," she said with a new tone.

But before I could've diagnosed what that meant, she flickered away in a shower of fire, taking the warmth of the fire with her.

The coals were burnt out, and the flames began to splutter away. Not before long, the last signs of that the hearth goddess had been standing there – just moments ago – were gone.

My audience with the Lady Hestia was over.

 **LINEBREAKDOESTHELINEBREAKDANCE**

After that totally not ominous conversation with the hearth goddess, Chiron gathered me to show off the cabins. We started at the top of the U, where the cabins that belonged to the queen and king of Olympus laid.

Both were big white marble boxes with heavy columns that lined the front. Zeus' was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. It's polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram so that at different angles, the door would reveal lightning bolts streaking through.

Hera's cabin was more graceful somehow, with its slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and a colorful variety of flowers. The walls were full with carved images of peacocks.

"Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.

"Correct," Chiron said, pleased.

"But why are they empty?" I questioned.

Chiron looked down at me with digress.

"You see Percy," Chiron started. Warning: Rant. "Each of the twelve cabins that lay before you belong to one of the twelve Olympians.

"Like that one is Poseidon's" I asked innocently, pointing towards cabin three.

Chiron smiled appreciatively.

"Percy, do you believe in the Greek stories I taught you at Yancy Academy?"

I looked at him. "Well. I just met Dionysus, the wine god. He likes pinochle. Hestia was there, as a nine-year girl, but she disappeared in a flash right in front of me. And finally, the centaur asks me if I believe in the Greek Myths?"

Chiron looked pointedly.

"I wouldn't be surprised if all of it was true," I shrugged.

"Well, as the stories have passed mouths for generations, often times the stories could be a bit…. Exaggerated. But yes, about 95% of modern remembrance of the Greek myths are close to accurate. But that is for another time. As you remember, it was…. Frequent, to say the least, that the gods themselves would come down and take more…. Personal interests with humanity."

I feigned incomprehension.

"That is, they would have children with mortals."

"Hercules? Theseus?" I pitched in.

Chiron smiled, "and like your namesake, Perseus. They were all the children of the Olympian gods. This camp is a safe place where children of the gods today can call home. Out there in the mortal world, life could be dangerous for demigods. Here, demigods can live in peace and safety. Train. Survive. The cabins are divided based on one's immortal parent. If say Apollo was found to be your father, you would be visiting Cabin seven." He pointed behind him.

"So why are the Zeus and Poseidon cabins empty? In the myths, they had, like a bajillion kids," I pressed.

Chiron looked away. "It was about seventy years ago. As often times throughout history, the mortal world mirrored the world of the gods. You could've possibly have heard of the mortal famed _'World War II.'_ As such, the war was basically a small disagreement between the children of – "

I spluttered, "Small disagreement?!"

Chiron smiled sadly. "The war was between the children of Zeus and Poseidon, and the Children of Hades. And like the war the mortal world fought, it had been equally, if not more devastating among demigods. The gods, horrified by the toll it had had on their children, made a pact. No more children of the big three. They were just simply too powerful. They could change the course of humanity in dangerous ways."

I looked back at Cabin one, trying to picture a war crazed Jason pound through the doors. I couldn't see it.

"So why the cabins," I asked instead.

"The cabins are just here for honorary reasons. That is the same with the goddesses Hera and Artemis. No children, yet we keep maintenance of the facilities… just in case."

There were double meanings to those words.

But I nodded, not seeing reason to interrupt. Chiron looked at the sky with a sigh, as if waiting for a list of instructions to fall down.

"Oh look," he finally said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."

* * *

 **The second half bored you guys, but that part with Hestia was cool, right? Before you asked, no. That wasn't just some pointless OOC Hestia, but it is another hint. :)**

 **Also, I'd like to address that the story WILL NOT be always be told from the three POVs (Percy, Annabeth, and figure) I've used so far. During the quest, I will be branching to people like Piper, Nico, and others…**

 **Next chapter, still PERCY! :D**

 **Remember to review!**

 **Best Wishes, from a Junior Scribe of Camp Half-Blood,**

 **~VCRx**

* * *

 **(This chapter has not been betaed.)**

 **[Last Edited: 4.18.2017]**


	10. 9:Percy

**Replies:**

 _I loved the Hestia/Percy scene! It was nice! I feel like Hestia isnt appreciated enough!_ _ **–LizCraft**_

Glad you liked it. Hestia is my favorite goddess. ;)

 _"Hestia's smile darkened" no no no, Hestia's smile does not darken. What is going on?! Also... I need Annabeth! You can't leave a cliffhanger like that! (Curse you JoshthePleb!) But at least it's not as bad as Rick Riordan's cliffhanger at the end of Mark of Athena(but luckily with that all the books were out by the time I read them XD)_ _ **–ImpossibleThings12**_

Oh yes, yes, yes! Hestia's smile darkened, alright. Lol. Annabeth POV won't be back for a few chapters, unfortunately. But we'll see what's up next chapter… Don't worry about that cliff hanger. I got more planned coming. And the ending of this book might want to make you kill me. ;)

 _Also, I get why you can't tell me whether Luke is in this, but its torture! Anyway excellent writing (although I'm not sure if you want to trust my judgment, young as I am. But I like this.) please put up the next chapter soon!_ _ **–ImpossibleThings12**_

Sorry about that, but thems' the breaks. You realize I don't know that your young right? For all I know your 85 years old. But thanks anyway! XD

 _wooooooooooooooo more percy! Annabeth can get stuffed! (tbh if this was a betrayal story, this is probably what she would be doing). That Hestia scene was awesome but stop doing the ominous foreshadowing every chapter._ _ **–Omega Alpha Hydra**_

Annabeth's gonna get stuffed alright… Just not the way your hoping. ;) (tbh, if this was a betrayal story, it wouldn't be Annabeth that would be doing the betraying…. *Smiles evilly*). Hestia is awesome, and I love foreshadowing, but I gotta work on making them more subtle, huh?

 _So you are the beta for Josh the Pleb, tell him to write faster. Now that I think about it, you need to write more chapters faster. Please? I'll give you a cookie. (::)_ _ **–OrangeOreo**_

Yes, I am. We'll try about best, but writing is a hard and long process. Trust me, I think I already have too many cookies… *munch*

Wait…so Percy has to live his whole life again? Dam, also I'm guessing the villain in the story is Kronos, with Luke and his sword are(is?) the way it's gearing my mind. I'm also thinking Luke might be alive? Maybe not getting possessed by Kronos? I don't know, but keep up the good work man. **–Contentkarma327**

Yeaaaaaa….. No. I'm not going to write the ten books over again, xD. Can't say what I'm going to do, but just know I'll speed things up. Coincidentally, starting NOW! Huh, another guess for Kronos. Seems like the safe logical choice, right? :3 Luke…. Luke will have a role in this series. That much, I will confirm.

 _#HestiaFTW_ _ **–Josh the Pleb**_

EVERYONE TWEET IT NOW! #HestiaFTW. Get it trending! :D

* * *

 **-Part One: Pressed-**

 **Chapter 9: Percy**

* * *

 _ **Last time with Percy**_ **:**

 _Chiron smiled sadly. "The war was between the children of Zeus and Poseidon, and the Children of Hades. And like the war the mortal world fought, it had been equally, if not more devastating among demigods. The gods, horrified by the toll it had had on their children, made a pact. No more children of the big three. They were just simply too powerful. They could change the course of humanity in dangerous ways."_

 _I looked back at Cabin one, trying to picture a war crazed Jason pound through the doors. I couldn't see it._

" _So why the cabins," I asked instead._

" _The cabins are just here for honorary reasons. That is the same with the goddesses Hera and Artemis. No children, yet we keep maintenance of the facilities… just in case."_

 _There were double meanings to those words._

 _But I nodded, not seeing reason to interrupt. Chiron looked at the sky with a sigh, as if waiting for a list of instructions to fall down._

" _Oh look," he finally said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."_

 **LINEBREAK**

Annabeth was waiting idly for us at the steps of cabin eleven when we came up to her. She looked up from one of her all-time favorite books: _Junior Historian's Guide to Classical Architecture._

Written in ancient Greek – of course.

She looked me over critically, like she was still thinking of how much I drooled.

"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have Poetic Arts at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"

"Yes, sir."

"Cabin Eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing towards the crooked doorway. "Make yourself at home."

I stepped up the old steps and came up to the door which swung open slickly.

Out of all the cabins at Camp Half-Blood, this one was the one that most resembled your normal well-used cabin from an old ordinary summer camp – with the emphasis on _old._ The thresholds were worn down, the brown paint on the walls were peeling off, due to the summer heat.

The floorboards were all rugged and etched up with dried paint and remnants of scrapped off dry moss.

The cabin was packed. Maybe close to two dozen kids – both boys and girls – about thrice the amount the cabin was designed for. Sleeping bags were all sprawled around and about all over the floor. Where there wasn't sleeping bags, these were random items of junk, trash or pranking supplies.

The Hermes cabin was not known for its organization and tidiness.

Then again, I wasn't much to say.

"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I will be seeing you at dinner."

With that, he galloped away towards the amphitheater.

I stood at the entrance looking awkwardly at my new cabin mates. They stared at me back, which further unnerved me. The Hermes cabin was NEVER quiet unless they were planning something. I felt their eyes sizing me up.

Ugh. Not this again.

"Well?!" Annabeth prompted. "Go on!"

I waved my hand at them – many I recognized.

"'Sup," I started. "Uh, My name's Percy. Percy Jackson."

"Regular or undetermined," someone from the back asked.

Annabeth prepared to answer, but I beat her to it.

"I'm undetermined."

Everyone groaned.

Then the oldest guy stepped forth with a big welcoming grin. "Now, now campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor right there."

He pointed at a small vacant corner.

The guy looked about nineteen, with short-cropped sandy hair and a slick but friendly smile.

Luke.

He wore an orange camp t-shirt, which he had ripped the sleeves off, cutoff sandals and a leather necklace that revealed his five long years at camp.

The only thing that ruined his easy going surfer look was the deep scar that ran right along his right cheek.

"This is Luke," Annabeth told me. Her voice had gone up an octave. I glanced a little peek at her face, and it was _totally_ bright red and blushing.

I got instantly jealous.

She saw me loo, and her expression hardened. "He'll be your counselor for now."

"For now?"

"Until your determined," she answered me.

The campers all laughed.

"Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you to the volleyball courts."

"Oh nice! Do you think they'll let me in a match?" I asked innocently as she dragged me outside. I could hear the entire cabin laugh behind me.

When we were a few feet away, Annabeth spun around and asked me: "Jackson. How do you know about being determined? I didn't see you getting the orientation film."

Should I tell her the truth?

I would be a lot easier if I did….

"Uh, Chiron explained part of it to me during our tour," I found myself lying through my teeth. I didn't want to lie to Annabeth of all people, but it was already too late.

"Your lying," Annabeth stared me down. That's the problem with being in anything with Annabeth. It was impossible to hide stuff from her. "How in Hades do you know everything?!"

"Umm," I mumbled, trying to quickly find a more plausible excuse. I looked down at my sneakers. "I had a dream."

Luckily, Annabeth seemed more satisfied with that answer.

I looked up, "That kinda sounds weird but-"

Annabeth stopped me right there.

"Actually, it's quite common for half-bloods to receive information through a dream."

"Half-Blood?

"Oh! Just another term for demigod," she waved off. "Demigod dreams are like a seventh sense – that is sixth being our battle reflexes. Our dreams aren't like mortal dreams. They serve an actual practical purpose. They're engineered to keep us alive. When we're asleep or unconscious, our minds sort of – are you listening?"

Yes, Professor Chase. Please, continue. Something about when we're sleeping?"

She rolled her eyes at me.

"Right. Anyway, when we're unconscious, our minds sort of wander. If there's anything important you need to know, per say _a new great prophecy_ , and the beginning of the end of the world, it'll tell you."

I nodded, I've had too many of those types of dreams in my lifetime. Now most likely, I'd have to repeat them.

I still didn't have any clue what was happening but-

"But," Annabeth injected. "Rarely does a dream directly show or tell you exactly what you nee to know. They'll give hints, scenes etc. But it's for you to figure it out yourself."

"They don't make it easy for us, do they?"

She laughed. "No, they do not.

I looked at her. "So I'm really a son of a Greek god?"

I already knew the answer to that one.

She nodded. Remember that food I fed you this morning?"

My stomach rumbled.

Great timing…

She laughed once more, amused. She pokes my shirt. "Guess so. That was Ambrosia – food of the gods. Only immortals or ones with immortal blood can eat it."

"What happens when a mortal eats it?"

Annabeth sighed. "Let's just say – I wouldn't want to be the one that cleans the mess."

I stared down by the canoe lake. The naiads waved at us.

This time, I didn't bother waving back.

Annabeth was right. The naiads _were_ horrible flirts.

"So…" Annabeth said. "Your mom's mortal?"

I nodded glumly. Annabeth realized what she had asked me and looked away ashamed. I wasn't sure who was suddenly more uncomfortable. Me or her.

"That leaves seven…" Annabeth muttered.

"So who's your godly parent?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Annabeth gleamed. "Cabin six."

"Meaning.?"

She straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."

I stared across the green towards cabin six. A group of about a dozen or so kids – all athletic looking with blonde hair were jogging single file out of their cabin.

A question that often bubbled in the back of my head resurfaced. It was a question that I found too stupid to ever ask Annabeth….

Confession time. I've had this particular question about Annabeth that's always bothered me. But I could never find a casual time to ask her it.

"Annabeth, can I ask you a question?"

"That is one, but sure," she replied, looking very unsure of what she had just agreed to.

"You don't have to answer this-"

"Yes. I have a belly button."

I looked at her for a fine moment before bursting out into laughter. You couldn't blame me for it. She glared at me, before looking around to make sure no one had hear her outburst.

I coughed, trying to withdraw my rude gesture. "Umm, Ah, no. I was going to ask you if Athena was blonde?"

Annabeth recoiled and narrowed her eyes. "Why – why would you ever think that?" She said in a menacing tone.

I quickly pointed at her siblings.

"Just that you and all the Athena kids have blonde hair. Do you guys just all dye it for something? Or are all your dads' just blonde?" I asked in amusement.

This is it! The long awaited answer….

Annabeth looked at her siblings with a new found fascination as they made their way to the arena.

"I've-"

That's when a husky voice yelled from behind us: "Well! A newbie!"

Oh no.

I spun around. Clarisse was slauntering her way towards us. She had three of her biggest and buffest sister along with her – all ugly and mean looking. Their resemblance to Ares was uncanny.

"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you polish your spear or something?"

"Sure, Miss Princess!" Clarisse said, "So I can run you through tomorrow night!"

"Erre es korakas!" Annabeth swore. My mind instantly translated it to "'Go to the Crows!' "You don't stand a chance!"

"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse sneered. But you could see the look in her eyes that she wasn't fully sure how well she was going to actually follow through on that threat. Then, she turned on me. "Who's the runt?"

"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, daughter of Ares."

I blinked. "Like… the war god?"

Clarisse sneered. "You have a problem with that, punk?"

"No," I said. Then, I lost my wits. "It explains the bad smell."

I shouldn't have said that.

Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."

"It's Perc–"

"Clarisse–" Annabeth tried.

"Stay out of it Wise Girl."

Annabeth looked pained, but stayed out of it.

That was the _last_ time Annabeth would be listening to her.

I got ready to fight. Some part of me expected myself to get out those ninja moves I've learned over the years and kicked Clarisse in the shin, but as before, before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me towards the restrooms.

I kicked and punched, struggling to escape her grasp. But it was useless. She was easily out of my weight division.

We came to the girl's bathroom, with Clarisse's sisters and Annabeth in tow.

"Like he's _'big three material,_ ' Clarisse said as she shoved me towards the nearest toilet. "Yeah, right. The minotaur probably fell over laughing because he was so stupid looking."

Original, Clarisse. How classy. Either way, her idiotic sisters snickered at the lame insults. Maybe they were wheezing from their own body odor.

Annabeth stood by the entry way – watching through her fingers.

Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my heat into the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and other content you would normally find flushed down a latrine. I strained to keep my head up from above the mucky water.

I stared at my own thick reflection, thinking what was my next move.

Get dunked or dunk her.

I felt a strong tug in the pit of my chest, as if my heart had suddenly been lit aflame. The plumbing rumbled, pipes shuddered. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened.

Then, it happened.

Water shot out of the toilet with a wave of waste along with it. It curved straight over my head, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard, she was pushed to the ground. The water only grew with intensity as it stayed on her like a spray from a very, very disgusting firehose.

She struggled, gasping. Her sisters started coming to help, but the other toilets exploded too.

Shrapnel flew in all directions. Somehow, none of it struck me.

The showers acted up too, and together all the fixtures smuttered the Ares girls, washing them out of the building past Annabeth.

Then, something new happened. The ground shook.

For a brief moment, I'd thought I had overloaded the plumbing system before I realized what this really was.

An earthquake.

I ran my way out, avoiding slipping and sliding on demigod waste, and pulled a stunned Annabeth with me out the building. Somehow, we made it out just in time, before the whole building collapsed.

The walls and roof fell straight down, and dust flew out with a whim.

The dust cleared, and what was left was a yucky pile of rubble and sewage spewing all over.

I got up, my legs shaking.

"Annabeth said, "How did you…"

I stared at the scene that I must've just caused. Oh crap. What have I done.

"Look, I – I don't," I began, trying to find the right words.

But then I noticed the girls weren't looking _at_ me. They were staring at something above my head.

Schist….

"Percy," Annabeth stuttered, pointing. Her hair dripped.

By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light – spinning and gleaming.

A three tipped spear: My father's trident.

"Your father…" Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good.."

"It is determined," Chiron announced, surprising me.

I turned around, finding him and a crowd of very stunned looking demigods. One guy was naked, with only a towel around his waist and soap still in his hair.

They looked at me, and then began kneeling. Even Clarisse, though she didn't seem very happy about it.

"Hail, Perseus Jackson. Son, of the sea god."

* * *

 **OMERGERD! So last chapter, we reached 50 REVIEWS?!**

 **I was so happy when I got that email, xD. Let's reach for a hundred next. :D**

 **So this chapter, was kinda filler, kinda not. I honestly don't know. Looking back on it, I'm suspicious whether or not I was high while writing part of this…**

 **But there you have it. It's an update.**

 **Best Wishes and Happy Holidays, from a Junior Scribe of Camp Half Blood**

 **~VCRx**

* * *

 **(This chapter has not been betaed.)**

 **[Last Edited: 4.18.2017]**


	11. 10: Piper

**Replies:**

 _I love how Percy really wanted that question answered XD_ _ **–ImpossibleThings12**_

That was just the mad fanboy part of me who hates awkward details that never made sense in the canon. I've made a list. :P

 _I expected that people will learn about his dad after he beats everyone at capture the flag and beats Clarisse._ _ **–OrangeOreo**_

Yeah, I just didn't really want to rewrite too much of the book. I'm planning on going through maybe four books in twenty-five chapters. Obviously, I want to skip a few minor details.

 _Though I'm fine with Hestia, and i don't really dislike her character at all, I am frustrated by how big of a role she plays in some fics. Hestia, even after knowing Percy, in the book NAMED after her, is still almost always in the background. I dont think she was mentioned through all of HOO, either, actually. In my opinion, she should still be a background character, no matter how much you like her, kuz its just her personality, right? Anyway, that's just my opinion._ _ **–some fucking random guy**_

I often get a headache about topics like these. While I completely agree that the gods shouldn't have too much of a sway in stories like these, this site was made so you can rewrite stories in the way you want. And many people love having more gods/goddesses in the stories. I mean look at Percy/goddess stories. Like, oh my gods Pertemis is so overdone (even though I'm guilty to reading them XDD). I will assure you though that I won't be making gods too influential in this series.

 _Oooooh! I like how you added the earthquake :)_ _ **–Earth'sChild93**_

I guess any child of Earth would appreciate earthquakes. :)

 _DAMMIT WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE HER ANSWER THE QUESTION BEFORE HE LEFT A GUY NAKED! that aside good chapter. I'm proud of you for not putting in any extremely noticeable foreshadowing (you're learning) in this chapter (for once)_ _ **–Omega Alpha Hydra**_

Yay me!

 _I can't wait for you to post a new chapter. Lately it's been difficult to find a truly enticing story such as this one where the author actually understands the basics of grammar. I do hope the next chapter is in Piper or Jason's point of view! Please update soon!_ _ **–PeaceLoveandFandoms**_

I'm glad you like the story. I do my best to try and correct my own grammar, but I apologize in advance if my work has some errors now and again. I'm going beta-less at the moment. And yes, your guess was right. PIPER! (also sorry for the late update)

* * *

 **-Part One: Pressed-**

 **Chapter 10: Piper**

* * *

At what point, should a person be worried for a friend?

Piper shook her head from the stiff pillow that leveled her head, as she awoke. Her eyes tired, but well rested. Letting out a gaping yawn – her mind cleared away, escaping from drowsy thoughts as she lazily awoke from a dreamless and strangely pleasant night of rest.

The sun's ever pleasant and welcoming rays cascaded from the Infirmary's many tinted skylights, pouring down plenty of healthy sunshine that sparkled in the cooling air in a wide spectra of colors.

But before she could fully enjoy the luminescent moment – the first time of peace in three long days of stressful anxiety, her ears caught the sound of a low mumbling front the adjacent bunk. Piper recollected her thoughts, remembering why she was in the infirmary. She wasn't here for her own sake, but Annabeth's.

"Annabeth, wake – " she began, before she gazing over to the sickbed right next to her own, which housed the previously injured daughter of Athena.

Annabeth appeared awake but awfully worn out. Her appearance revealed a distinct lack of sleep. Her blonde hair was disheveled and faded; evidence of a lack of a nice shower. Her normally tanned skin from her time in California looked transparent in the winter sun. Her silver brilliant eyes looked, but without luster, like she'd been hollowed out.

She sat upright on her bunk – her cast and covers tossed away, like just commonplace distractions.

Piper then noticed what laid in place of the normal orange blanket. A long worn parchment.

"Annabeth? What are you…" Piper started saying as she threw off her covers, and hopped off her bed to look at what Annabeth was so interested looking at.

At the front of Annabeth's lap laid the rough page, a piece that on one edge looked as if it had been ripped from an ancient book. The page looked wrinkled and had suffered a great deal of water damage.

On it, were presumably words, but in a language foreign to anything Piper had ever read. Looking at the words, which unlike normal words, didn't jump across the page. The torn page gave Piper goosebumps – like a hidden message never meant to be seen by mortal eyes.

"Hey Piper, is Annabeth –" came a feminine voice. From the front corridor, popped out Thalia Grace, lieutenant of the hunters of Artemis. Thalia peeked her head out from the door. " – awake… guess so."

Thalia grinned, and hopped into the room, making a beeline and hugging the daughter of Athena. The daughter of Zeus wore her infamous gray _'Death to Barbie'_ tee and a thin gleaming white winter coat. Atop the hunter's short chopped raven hair, was the lieutenant's tiara, sparkling with glee, yet radiated with a silent power. Ripped jeans and what probably used to have been a white pair of converse rounded out her look.

"Annabeth! I'm so sorry I couldn't have come sooner. I told Phoebe, get out of that thrift store, but she was really adamant that a limited edition collectible was somewhere in there," Thalia explained. "You know how she is with those Artemis collectibles. Anyway, I'm here now. And we'll get Seaweed Brain back. He'll round up somewhere, and we'll find him before you know it," Thalia soothed, holding the daughter of Athena within her grasps. Annabeth, in turn hugged her back, smiling.

Piper sat back down – feeling like an intruder on a precious moment between two childhood friends.

Thalia backed off, to look at her friend with her electric blue eyes, before noticing the page that laid on Annabeth's lap.

The huntress picked it up to read, but frowned. "I know I have really bad dyslexia, but this is all Greek to me. If it even is Greek."

Piper piped up. **"** Annabeth. What is it?"

The blonde held her temples, as if formulating words out her mouth required a great effort on her part. Her eyelids closed, hiding Annabeth's silver orbs.

"I think it's a ransom," she stated.

"What?" Piper and Thalia both said at the same time.

A ransom?

"I had a dream last night," Annabeth started slowly, "The details… they're already started to get away from me. There was this figure. A figure that I couldn't make out. He asked me for a payment and he would return Percy." Annabeth grabbed her head, as if under a great headache. "I – There was Manhattan. I saw it. The figure is going to tear New York to the ground. When I woke up, I was hugging this –"

Annabeth held a twitching finger, and touched the paper as if it were an illusion.

The daughter of Athena's gaze looked strange. Tired. Calculating. But distressed. Annabeth never looked distressed.

Piper had a knack for reading emotions, but couldn't find anything but stress under Annabeth's tired expression.

Thalia leaned in at the page. "What does it say?"

Annabeth frowned and her head fell back onto her pillow. "I don't know," she said in frustration. "It's some foreign language I don't recognize. The thing is, I think I saw the same alphabet in my dream…"

Thalia retracted the parchment from Annabeth – who looked on edge of having a fit. Maybe not having it present would calm her nerves, but the idea failed.

"Isn't there that kid who can read all sorts of languages? Victor or something?" Thalia said, scratching her head.

Annabeth and Piper both lightened up.

"What's wrong with me?!" Annabeth said, "Why didn't I think of him sooner?"

 **LINEBREAKDIDNTGETPRESENTS**

"So, explain it to me again," Thalia pressured as they walked to the Athena cabin. "What in Hades did that guy say to you?"

Annabeth looked away, distantly. The daughter of Athena had been silent and acted completely off for the entire discussion, which was quite one sided. Then again, Annabeth's mood only seemed to reflect the landscape of the camp's current predicament. Looking out at the distant horizons of the camp, the camp's borders – which normally played as the camp's first line of defenses, now acted as the campers' imprisoner.

The normally invisible barriers were now tinged blue, and blocked anyway of escaping the camp's borders. The camp had tried almost anything. They had tried digging under and flying up high. Powerful Automatons from the Hephaestus' cabins had tried barraging and assaulting the walls. They tried sailing out sea but two canoes now lied at the bottom of Long Island Sound. Even Nico's shadow travel only allowed him as far as where the boundaries stood.

Iris Messaging had also seized to function. After a half weeks' worth of struggles, the camper's had unsatisfyingly deduced that the new barriers – unknown in origin – had caused the isolation between the camp and the rest of the world. But as far as they knew – it was for a completely different reason.

No escape. No communications with the outside world.

No help would be coming.

Beyond the transparent borders, a wild storm that had been blowing for two straight days rumbled. No rain or clouds penetrated the metaphysical walls, but freezing damp winds blew throughout the grounds of camp. The low hanging sun peeked slightly over the dark clouds.

The barriers had appeared the morning after the night of the game of capture the flag. While the oracle Rachel Elizabeth Dare and the hunters of Artemis had found their way in to Camp Half-Blood. Beforehand, Jason was last seen going off on his solo mission to Quebec. After three days with no word, Piper had grown worried for him, like she was worried about everything else; including Percy Jackson.

And with Annabeth unconscious for the last few days, the camp had looked up to her for leadership, which she wasn't sure she was quite ready for. Chiron had proved that he would only act as a teacher and guide and that the demigods themselves were always destined to have to lead themselves. She wasn't a natural leader, despite how vivid and swaying her words could become. Piper had tried to fill in that roll once during the journey to Greece, but it still didn't deter the fact that Annabeth was always the one with the plan.

But at the moment, Annabeth looked too somber to calculate a new plan.

Piper sensed Thalia was on the edge of taking out her hunter's bow and shooting herself in the foot from the lack of communication.

"Come on, Annabeth. You've got to give me something," Thalia complained, but Annabeth kept her mouth shut; shivering as a cold breeze blew by.

Piper shivered as well. The Infirmary had a severe lack of coats; which Piper was sure to hopefully change in the near future.

"Let's just find out what this says." Annabeth said analytically, still looking over the scribbled marks on the worn page. "I need to know what it says."

"And _I_ need to know what's going on in your head of yours." Thalia said once more, but now collected.

Confession time: Piper wasn't honestly sure what to make of the lone son of Calliope at camp. The boy was quite a question mark, even to the emotion reading daughter of Aphrodite.

The legacy of Calliope had appeared a few weeks ago, and was the first legacy or any descendent of a muse to make their home at Camp Half-Blood. Apparently it wasn't too uncommon for Camp Jupiter, but it was a first for the Greek camp. Van liked often kept to himself – writing in his little warm corner of the Athena cabin.

By fault, he was more related to the Apollo kids, but everyone agreed cabin six would be the best fit for kids knew not to disturb others during their thoughts.

The girls barged into Cabin six, and approached the lone teen inside; who laid on his bunk facing down a one garbled pile of about four or five notebooks – scribbling down ideas and thoughts at random. A small lamp hung giving a source of light that wasn't really needed. Around him, laid about twenty scrunched up pages – evidence of writer's block

"But if I make them stay and fight, then they'd have to kill him... Wait, do I want him dead? I mean I could but…" the boy mumbled, before engaging in a rapid pace of scribbling long strings of words – oblivious to the girls that had approached him, as he was lost in his thoughts and facing away from them.

Thalia coughed trying to gain the legacy's attention.

"What – huh, is it lunch already?" Van said, before turning around. A shy awkward smile appeared on his face. "Annabeth, you're okay! A little bit tired, but –"

Thalia coughed once more telling the boy to seize his words. She brought out the rolled up page and shoved it at him. "Hey Van. We could really use your help with translating. Make it quick."

The boy sat up, and took a long stretch – ignoring the need for speed. He readjusted his thick glasses and took the page from Thalia gingerly. He flattened out the page and stared at it curiously.

"I can't read it," he frowned.

Piper grew confused. "I thought with your ability you can read anything. Any language. As long as it's written down? Right?"

The boy shook his head. "I can read most languages, but a few just don't click with me. Like Japanese – I've had trouble figuring that mess out. But usually, I can at least tell _what_ language it is. This –" he gestured, "this looks like gibberish to me. See, you can tell by the curvature of this letter, it resembles a type of Bantu but–"

Thalia interrupted the boy impatiently. "So you're saying you can't tell us what it says?"

Van smirked. "Maybe not but… Wait right there!" The next thing Piper saw, the boy scurried off towards the back of the Athena cabin – where the library and cabin storage room was. A minute later, the boy came back with a long briefcase. "Calliope gave my mother this little tool, and my mother passed it down to me. It helps if I ever couldn't read something. I've never needed it myself, but –"

The legacy opened the briefcase and pulled out one of those normal squirters they used for Windex and such. But instead, the bottle was labeled with the brand: _Readex_.

"What's it do?" Piper asked curiously.

Van raised an eyebrow and looked at his counselor. "You want to explain?"

Annabeth sighed. "It's like a translator. It temporary translates written texts," she said flatly.

Van laughed. "I don't like being bothered often. 'Read this, Read that.' Ever since the library remodeling, they wanted me to get _everything_ translated. So I let them use the spray. Quick and easy, and the words change back to their original form unchanged after a couple of hours. No damage done."

He gave Piper the bottle and Piper held it, not knowing what to do with it.

"Spray the page. There's no harm," he said coolly.

Thalia looked at Piper expectantly, and Piper pumped the bottle. Sparkling purple mist covered the page and the paper grew aflame.

Thalia looked shocked and rushed to Van's bunk but then the flames tendered away as quickly as they had appeared; revealing a loose cursive writing.

* * *

 _To receive who's been lost,_

 _You must pay the total cost._

 _And face much of the past,_

 _before the equinox's surpassed._

 _Be my demands, you must find:_

 _The Golden Fleece._

 _A Scarf of Doves._

 _1qt. Chiseled Victim._

 _24 hours; Moonlight._

 _13 Persephonean Seeds._

* * *

They all stared at the page.

Van looked confused. "Umm, what exactly is…"

Annabeth grabbed the paper from Van's bunk and rolled it before turning on the heel. "Thanks Van. You'll get to see later today. Right now, we need to Chiron to call a meeting."

* * *

 **Overall, I'm unhappy with this chapter, but this was the seventh draft and I'm tired of rephrasing the same scene so many times. So this is what you got. But if you guys want, I'll give it another whirl… And then there's the fact it's third person. I'm still working on finding a comfortable writing style, so apologies there.**

 **Also, an OC. Son of Calliope. Admittedly, I based some of the things on me, some I threw up in a mad scramble to find a way to move the plot along. Pretty ambiguous though, since I'm not sure I'll ever use him again, but if I do I can add detail later.**

 **Best Wishes, from a Junior Scribe of Camp Half Blood. Happy New Years. See you guys soon.**

 **~VCRx**

* * *

 **(This chapter has not been betaed.)**

 **[Last Edited: 4.18.2017]**


	12. 11: Percy

**Replies:**

 _So when will he tell Chiron and Annabeth about his little problem_ _ **–CaptinJar**_

When Percy tells them.

 _Good chapter, looking forward to what happens next._ **–Shigure Toshiro**

Looking forward to writing what's next…

 _tbh this chapter was a little slow. I WOULD BE 100% OKAY WITH YOU KILLING OFF JASON! In fact, please do!_ **–Omega Alpha Hydra**

Yeah, it was slow, that's why I hated it. As for Jason, I will consider it.

 _Hmm, interesting ransom note (assuming that's what it is). Also the self-insert isn't too cringy XD and the chapter's pretty good._ **–ImpossibleThings12**

Yes, it's the ransom note, and the real deal. Glad it wasn't too bad.

 _Wait, VAN is you? Lololol. You wear glasses? Glasses...check. Awkward smile...check XDD Oml VAN's talking to himself. I do that all the time omg. Is he writing the next fanfic chapter ;) MAKE THEM GO THROUGH THE WINDOW OMG XDD A chiseled victim… MEDUSA OMGOMG Persephonean seeds… get Nico to eat some pomergrantes and spit out 13 seeds. 24 hours of moonlight...? Perhaps hourglasses...? Hourglasses set on the moon or Artemis's moon chariot to collect the moonlight. And instead of sand in the hourglasses, it would be like, crystalized moonlight falling. –_ _ **SoulHorse**_

Yes – kinda, I don't know. I feel like I'm super awkward, but they could be teenage mentality. But what I do know, is that my mom tells me that I spend too much time writing and talking to myself. *Shrugs* Yes, out the window. And yes and no to a bunch of those guesses on the plot. I don't wanna spoil and tell everyone which ones are correct.

 _dude what the hell no no no i do not accept this._ _ **–Gogeta12345**_

Well fuck. I can't have that.

 _When you can please write more! I have been waiting for my copy of b͟͟l͟͟o͟͟o͟͟d͟͟ o͟͟f͟͟ O͟͟l͟͟y͟͟m͟͟p͟͟u͟͟s͟͟ And needed something to read, than I found this fanfic and loved it! this was very creative for the fact it was written in your spare time!_ _ **–Guest**_

Sorry for the wait, dude. It's here now.

* * *

 **-Part One: Pressed-**

 **Chapter 11: Percy**

 **So I was expecting to have at least another two weeks to start writing again, but you guys guilted me with your reviews. Fudge….**

 **But here's an update! I promised it was going to be an Annabeth chapter, but I wasn't really in the mood for writing one. Sorry. But it is better than nothing… right?**

* * *

 _ **Last time with Percy:**_

 _"Look, I – I don't," I began, trying to find the right words._

 _But then I noticed the girls weren't looking at me. They were staring at something above my head._

 _Schist…._

 _"Percy," Annabeth stuttered, pointing. Her hair dripped._

 _By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light – spinning and gleaming._

 _A three tipped spear: My father's trident._

 _"Your father…" Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good..."_

 _"It is determined," Chiron announced, surprising me._

 _I turned around, finding him and a crowd of very stunned looking demigods. One guy was naked, with only a towel around his waist and soap still in his hair._

 _They looked at me, and then all began kneeling. Even Clarisse, though she didn't seem very happy about it._

 _"Hail, Perseus Jackson. Son of the sea god."_

 **LINEBREAKISMADVACATIONWASCUTSHORT**

Later that afternoon, Chiron moved me to cabin three.

The new development had been both a big relief and a complete shock. I hadn't planned on changing the past. In fact, I still wasn't sure if this _was_ the past…

Oh how did I ever got into these situations?

I silently murmured how even Hercules had less troubles, but the comment only gave a moment of reprieve. Self-pity wasn't going to do anything for me.

On one side, having my own cabin allowed me to have a great flexibility in my schedule. Without Luke or any of the other Hermes kids keeping an eye on me, I was more free with my activities, without peering eyes. Although I wasn't sure what I was going to do, maybe I could snoop around. Maybe I'll learn something.

One thing Annabeth had taught me: Don't assume until you have all the facts. Maybe I was in the past – but this feeling on the back of my neck; a shiver told me to think otherwise.

I just wasn't sure what to think of, yet.

But it wasn't as if I was in the midst of fighting some time controlling deity that could've messed and launch me back in the timeline or anything. Then maybe this would make a lot more sense.

My life story was often mangled with myths and legends, but it wasn't some sort of fairy tale. I dearly hope my life wouldn't become some kind of story, people read for entertainment.

And while myths were myths; time travel was a different matter altogether. Science fiction; and while shows like Doctor Who made the adventures sound fun, (Annabeth and Leo had introduced the show to us during the quest to Athens. When we we're questing, sleeping or battling with pesky immortals, Doctor Who reruns served nicely as a source of entertainment. There was even enough action that Coach Hedge approved of it.) I didn't want to be back in time.

Time travel and Greek myths couldn't mix. Could it?

Anyway, the changes from the bathroom incident were already being felt.

I was three days ahead of schedule; and I hope I didn't just cause some time ripple that would end the universe. Because that would've suck.

 _Percy Jackson destroys all Space-Time Continuum when he can't control himself in the bathroom._

Maybe someone should write a book about me. My feats would be hilarious….

Anyway, the morning after, Chiron was eager to give me my choice of classes, although he made sure to get me a slot with Luke for private lessons about sword fighting.

For the entire morning, everyone avoided me like the plague. The sky was cloudy (It was NEVER cloudy) and I sat alone at my father's table. It became evident that I was at the center of everyone's discussions. As I passed, demigods would hush their conversations and avoid my glance.

The ones that were brave enough eyed me like I had killed their dog.

Even Grover didn't make an appearance or anything to congratulate me or talk to me. When I confronted Annabeth at her table where he was, she gave me the same sort of stand-offish tone everyone was now giving me. She answered how he was busy with the Council, but did not divulge any details. I guess maybe we never had the extra few days for me to swoon her with my naïve yet charming questions.

I rotated around my classes and activities the entire morning. Woodrow – nervous chap – tried to showed me how to finger a clarinet, but by the end of the lesson we both had three throttled reeds and the agreement that maybe musicianship wasn't going to be my forte.

Afterwards, I crushed the Hephaestus cabin in canoeing, but I had this suspicion that they were holding back, afraid of having the same fate Clarisse and her sisters had while challenging me in the middle of my element.

I found my lesson with Annabeth to be half hazardous and counterproductive. While she was still obligated to teach me, she avoided actually talking and commenting about my studies.

Luckily, I didn't appear like a doofus in front of her, and was able to stumble over a few pages of the Illaid, without much trouble, but Annabeth's mind seemed distance and her eyes gave the impression of raging storms.

She wasn't in the mood for talking; which was kind of hard to learn Greek from, as half the lesson was supposed to be vocal. Her eyes were distant, and her murmurs about Poseidon discouraged me from messing with her while she was in her thoughts.

I spied the Ares kids a few times, but Clarisse made sure to steer clear. She narrowed her eyes and growled at me to back off when I bumped into her by accident on the way to lunch, but nothing eventful came out of it, fortunately.

After lunch was I had my 'first' sword fighting lesson.

I made sure to arrive to my lesson early, but even then Luke made it too the arena before me. I walked into him already slashing and mauling on one of those stuffed dummies they had for newbies to train on, and when I made my presence known, he greeted me with a rather bright and optimistic smile, which made me uneased.

"Morning, Percy!" Luke began as he sheathed his blade. It was the one he owned before he had made Backbiter. Luke's smile widened when he saw I was already wearing my own armor. "Your lesson doesn't start till noon. You wanted an early start?"

It wasn't a question, but more of an interested statement. There was no malice or distaste in the words. Luke sounded like he was the one person genuinely eager to talk to me. Like being the son of Poseidon was no big deal. I shuffled and tried not to squirm, and he slapped me on the back and showed be to the Barracks before I could even greet him back.

He opened up and barged into the shack of spare weapons the camp had, while I stood and the door not sure what to say.

"Ahh, I remember my first sword lesson," he began. He stared in wonder at all the dusty swords and daggers and spears. "I had already been using a sword I had found for months but then they gave me a blade that was balanced just right."

He winked, and gestured towards the blade at his waste. The one that he had been using earlier. "Improved my fighting ability tenfold! And when you're fighting for your life, tenfold can make quite a difference."

He shuffled and jumbled through the racks, murmuring about adjustments based on my height. He was about halfway down before he realized I hadn't followed him in.

"Come on!" he told me. "The swords aren't going to bite you."

 _It's not the swords I'm worried about,_ I thought.

Nevertheless, I decided to enter and Luke helped me find a good weapon. We tried a few blades out that he thought might suit me, but some were too long. Others weighed liked bowling balls in my hands. One felt like a featherweight, and when I tried to swing with it the sword flew right out of my grasp. It nearly decapitated Luke, and made a nice etched whole in the wall.

I quickly apologized but he merely shrugged it off like it was a normal occurrence when working with newbies.

The son of Hermes swaggered through the weapons, not at all deterred that I might not find my chosen weapon amongst the camp supplies. I already knew what I would be using, but I wasn't going to confront Chiron about Riptide yet. All will hopefully come in its own time.

We finally settled on this bronze leaf blade which was about five inches too short, but its grip was firm, and the balancing was near perfect.

With a decent blade now in my hands, Luke preceded to teach me the basics of sword fighting. We started with some basic stabbing and slashing, suing some of the straw-stuffed dummies for practice, but when it became apparent I already knew most my way around my blade, he decided to try some more complex maneuvers.

We practiced with me head on, parrying, slashing and blocking each other's attacks. I tried my best to make my efforts sloppy, but my fighting instincts took over and I could tell Luke wasn't going as easy as he had planned too.

Finally, after a few minutes, he struck my sword while I was expecting a block, and my sword flew out of my hands. The tip of his blade poked the bottom of my chin, before he relaxed. His expression covered in sweat but obviously in wonder.

"You're a natural!" he exclaimed. His eyes glimmered with what I thought might be pride. "You sure you haven't touched a sword before?"

I shook my head, I think it was pretty obvious I was lying. The son of Hermes didn't push for information though.

"Well either way you're great," he said, before his wrist watch beeped, and he had to stop and look at the time. "Guess we have a few more minutes before we clean up. I got rock climbing next, and I've got for sure not let the Stolls unbuckle Harry's harness again."

He looked at me and winked. "But I think we can place _one_ more lesson, before I've got too go."

Coincidentally, it was the same disarming maneuver he had shown and tested on me in my very first lesson. And the actual first at that.

"Okay, so this one is a difficult one," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique.

He demonstrated the move too me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hands.

"Now in real time," he said, after I had retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Got it?"

I nodded and Luke went after me. Somehow, I prevented him from hitting my wrist but he still pushed his advantage. Unlike last time, he had already experienced the lengths of my skills, and he didn't hold back.

My senses opened up, as he slashed and ducked my strikes. I narrowed my eyes, trying to push for an offensive. That was my mistake. I stepped forwards and tried to thrust towards his wrist. He saw my overextension and took advantage my ducking and slashing at the base of my blade.

 _Clang._

My sword rattled on the stones. The tip of his blade was an inch from my undefended chest.

I stood there still, utterly surprised. For a moment, I was too stunned to speak.

"Well, sorry about that," Luke said before lowering his weapon. His scarred face opened in a wide grin, and he wiped the sweat out of his blonde hair. "I got a little bit excited. It's just that in a real battle, your enemy would've taken of that mistake. But you're the most natural swordsmen I've seen yet."

He patted my back before sheathing his blade, and unstrapping his armor.

"Class dismissed! See ya back here tomorrow, Jackson."

* * *

 **I think this chapter was one of my better works – despite my half lucidness. Maybe I should write more late at night! (or… would it be early morning?) I don't know, lol.**

 **It just…. Flowed better and was less slow. Blah, you know what I'm talking about! (Maybe.)**

 **I'd love reviews! :D**

 **Best Wishes, from a Junior Scribe of Camp Half-Blood,**

 **~VCRx**

* * *

 **(This chapter has not been betaed.)**

 **[Last Edited: 4.18.2017]**


	13. 12: Percy

**Replies:**

 _Ow! That poke hurt!_ _ **–Josh the Pleb**_

Hahaha. I hope so.

 _I love. LOVE how this story is going so far especially its on little cute and awesome ass linebreak. i slogged through all 13 chapters laughing a bit here and there and reading mainly with interest on the plots development now im not a person who goes for the percabeth story's except the well... The exceptions (i.e. this story) either way keep on that grind man im waiting for the next chapter with open arms and more funny linebreaks._ _ **–NONAME2002**_

I'm sure LINEBREAK loves being noticed. ;) Don't worry, I will make sure Percabeth is portrayed in a way even many Percabeth haters will tolerate. And glad you liked the plot!

 _Ok good chapter, you started getting a little too meta there in the middle but that's all yaaaaaayyyyy Jason might die!_ _ **–Omega Alpha Hydra**_

But I love meta! :(

 _That beginning was really intriguing. I noticed that you wrote 'dam' instead of 'damn' and with the great spelling and grammar in this story, I wondered if that might have been an intentional reference?_ _ **–CookieUnicorn (Guest)**_

Can I say: Nice name you have there! Yes, you will find in my writing I like to limit swearing by using Rick's style of swearing… I'm fine with swears, but I don't want readers who don't to not read because of language. ;)

 _Who fucking reads this shit?_ _ **–Guest**_

Apparently you, if you're reviewing for chapter 11. Thanks for reading you little prick! :D

 _whoa I expected it but I didn't at the same time! I am losing my mind, this story is beautiful You are a great writer!_ _ **–Strawberrygirl2000**_

THANK you! ;)

 _I say it too much but I love your story. There aren't many fan-fics that have me constantly checking to see if there is an update, I can't wait for your next chapter. When will we find out who that figure is? Just wondering, I'll mark it on my calendar :P_ _ **–Strawberrygirl2000**_

You want a specific date? I don't have that XD. As for a chapter? Well…. how about the last chapter of Pressed, if you don't include the epilogue. :p

* * *

 **-Part One: Pressed-**

 **C12: PERCY**

 **HEYA! So on January 31st, we made it to A HUNDRED REVIEWS! Oh my gosh! I literally jumped and bumped my head on the car ceiling when I saw. Got a few glares from my parents but who cares about them!**

 **SO IN CELEBRATION…. You guys get an actually good chapter where stuff happens and its long as ASS. Actually never mind.. ass is a really short word. How about mASSchusetts? :3**

* * *

 _ **Last time with Percy**_

 _He demonstrated the move to me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hands._

" _Now in real time," he said, after I had retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Got it?"_

 _I nodded and Luke went after me. Somehow, I prevented him from hitting my wrist but he still pushed his advantage. Unlike last time, he had already experienced the lengths of my skills, and he didn't hold back._

 _My senses opened up, as he slashed and ducked my strikes. I narrowed my eyes, trying to push for an offensive. That was my mistake. I stepped forwards and tried to thrust towards his wrist. He saw my overextension and took advantage my ducking and slashing at the base of my blade._

 _Clang._

 _My sword rattled on the stones. The tip of his blade was an inch from my undefended chest._

 _I stood there still, utterly surprised. For a moment, I was too stunned to speak._

" _Well, sorry about that," Luke said before lowering his weapon. His scarred face opened in a wide grin, and he wiped the sweat out of his blonde hair. "I got a little bit excited. It's just that in a real battle, your enemy would've taken of that mistake. But you're the most natural swordsmen I've seen yet."_

 _He patted my back before sheathing his blade, and unstrapping his armor._

" _Class dismissed! See ya back here tomorrow, Jackson."_

 **LINEBREAKWANTNWAPTIME**

Later that afternoon, I finally spotted Grover chilling near the strawberry fields on one of those loose fence posts that divided the campgrounds from farmland. He was facing away from me, but he was staring down, into the dirt blowing this awfully depressing melody into a harmonica. Nearby vines were beginning to welter from sadness around him.

"Grover!" I greeted, surprising him. He jumbled and narrowly caught the instrument from falling onto the ground before looking up. His eyes were wet, and widened in a mixture of fear and embarrassment when they saw me.

He faltered. "Oh. Uh, hey Perce…"

"Where have you been?" I asked incredulously. "I haven't seen you all day."

I sat down on the fence post next to him. He looked downright dejected.

"Oh yeah. I was just talking to Mr. D."

His face turned a sickly shade of yellow. Call me stupid, but that was the moment I finally remembered what was going on for Grover at this time.

"So, your career's still on track?"

He glanced at me apprehensively. "C-Chiron t-told you about me wanting a searcher's license?"

"Well yeah," I said.

Lies.

"He said that you had big plans finding Pan and that you needed some good credit from your keeper's assignment which was me if you wanted to get it. So did you?"

Grover stared down at his harmonica. "Mr. D suspended judgement. He said I haven't failed or succeeded with you yet, so our fates are still tied together. And now that we know that you are a son of—"

BOOM!

The strike was off in a far distance, but it still felt that it had shaken the earth. Grover was trembling.

Lightning lit the evening sky. Around them, campers peered up for the source of the commotion. Miles away, clouds were building up in the west. It looked like it had even begun to rain near the horizon.

"Poseidon," he finished. "You're bound to get some big suicidal quest soon," he whimpered, "If you get one, I should go along and protect you. If we come back home together, alive and healthy, then maybe Mr. D will consider the job complete."

Grover, always the confidence booster.

I sighed. "Well, that's not too bad, right?"

"Blaa-ha-ha! I'm sorry Percy! The fact that he's your dad…" he paused. "The gods will be going out of their way to make your life dreadful." Yeah, I totally haven't noticed… "Why would you want me to go along anyways?! I'll be useless!" His eyes started to flow with tears.

"Of course I would want you to come with me!"

That only made him cry even more. He stared glumly at the fields. A few of the Demeter kids and Castor and Pollux were roaming the area – vitalizing the plants.

"Strawberry growing," he sniffed, "Must be nice to have a useful skill."

I wanted to say something, but I realized maybe he needed some alone time to gather his thoughts.

 **LINEBREAKHASONLYONEITOCRYFROM**

The call came right at the end of dinner. As I was scrapping my leftovers into the compost bin, Grover pulled me away before I could join the camp at the campfire.

"Mr. D wants to see you."

"Why?"

"He wants to kill… I mean–you know what? I'm going to let him tell you."

 _Thanks for the reassurance, man._

Nervously, I let him lead me to the big house, but I made sure to catch Annabeth's attention as she jogged pass us towards the campfire.

Grover and I walked to the big house, which loomed menacingly in the evening light. Up on the lantern lit front porch was Mr. D. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his tiger stripped Hawaiian shirt, just like how I remembered. In his hands was the latest issue of Wine Taster's Monthly.

"Well, well, Mr. D said looking up from his magazine. "Isn't it our little celebrity?"

I waited.

He sighed, before pointing towards the two chairs across from him. We bowed and slid into the empty seats.

He took a great deal of time, just looking over me. He didn't even acknowledged Grover, which I think, he appreciated.

"Son of Poseidon…" Dionysus drawled, straining every syllable like it was an incantation. His dull eyes bore into mine. "Not who I would've expected. Honestly, I was so sure that that Thalia girl was going to be the child of the–" he paused, evident of almost slipping, "—but evidently, that has come to pass. Now here we are."

"Sir?" I said, leaning in. Grover looked like he was about to have a stroke.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Dionysus said, slamming his magazine onto the table.

I sat still.

Dionysus stared at us for a second before falling back into his seat. He whirled his hand, and a pair of Diet Cokes popped into existence in his hands. He handed me one, before leaning back, burping.

"If I had my way," Dionysus blundered, "we would've already finish this great deal one way or another done with. Prophecy this, prophecy that…It makes horrible chatter for parties, doesn't it?"

I nodded, only following about half of what he said.

"If I had had my way, our friend Thalia would still be here with us. I had a few bets set on her – you see. Didn't bod well with my mood when she got struck on top of that hill," he ranted. "Hermes, heck, he knows said that the next hero would be it."

Mr. D took a swig from his coke. The can in my hand suddenly weighed in my hand.

"But the problem is now, Barnacle Beard would sure create quite a fuss about it if I destroy you…It'll completely ruin the mood of my next party. And I couldn't just not invite your father."

"The blasphemy!" I feigned.

Mr. D nodded vigorously. "Exactly my point, Mr. Jackson. Besides, I have taken a liking to you. Don't expect nothing from it, but not many heroes earn my favor. If you let it get to that little head of yours…"

He let the comment hang, before shrugging. "While my bets with Hermes have gone down the hole, I have come to realize, if you are too successful at this camp; not too much mind you, my father might cut my punishment."

"Mr. D was sentenced here due to—" Grover started explaining.

"Now, Mr. Underwood," Dionysus interrupted. "Your status is still withheld, mind you."

Grover gulped.

"As I was explaining, while the Ancient Laws forbid me to interfere with destiny directly, I may give you some useful advice for much later."

He turned back to me.

"Beware who you trust, Mr. Jackson." Dionysus stated, before getting up. "I am sure you will find my words wise in the near future. Now I'm off to Olympus for an emergency meeting. Get a quest as soon as I leave. If you are still back by the time I return…"

Dionysus' glare softened. "I might regret having to kill you."

He picked up his magazine, and it morphed into a security pass to his touch. Dionysus then snapped his fingers, and the air seemed to shimmer and bend around him. He became a hologram, then with the wind he was gone, leaving only the sour smell of fresh pressed grapes lingering behind.

Grover stared at me in disbelief, while I melted into my chair.

What did I do?

 **LINEBREAK**

Grover didn't join me, if that's what you were thinking.

He said he needed to go use the porta-potties (read, his bladder was acting up again), so while he went to do whatever Satyrs did, I climbed four flights up to the attic. The door swing down and a wooden ladder clattered into place.

The warm air from above smelled like mildew and rotten wood and snakes. Lots and lots of snakes.

I held my breath, and climbed.

The attic was full of souvenirs from other quests long ago. I didn't stay by and look at them though. I had already seen them a million times, and while I didn't want to speak the oracle, stalling wouldn't do anything good in my favor.

By the window, sitting on a wooden tripod stool, was the most gruesome image in the room.

She wore a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beaded necklaces, and a headband over her long black shriveled hair. The skin on her face was thin and leathery over her skull, and her eyes were glassy white slits as if the real eyes had been replaced by marbles.

She'd been dead for a long, long time.

Looking at her sent chills up my spine, and that was before she sat up from her stool and opened her mouth. A green mist poured from her mouth, coiling on the floor, before sending misty tendrils my direction.

I stumbled.

"I am the Spirit of Delphi, speaker of prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker and ask."

I didn't feel like asking anymore, but I forced myself to take a deep breath.

I've done this a few times already. What would be different?

"What is my destiny?"

The mist at my feet swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of me. Suddenly, I was in a dark tunnel. For a moment, it was near pitch black before a bright source of light rounded the bend. Three figures followed.

It was like I was a part of the wall; one brick in a million and as they approached, the flames illuminated their faces. In the lead was a familiar son of Hephaestus: a glowing fireball in his hand.

He wore a green arm jacket and sweats. His frizzy hair coated with grim and oil.

He stepped carefully, as if expecting a trap that would never come. His eyes twitched back and forth, looking for hidden mechanisms in the flooring. Tailing him, I made out was the distinct figure of a gloomy and thin son of Hades. Nico's stygian blade soaked up the tenders that flew off from Leo's flame. His messy black hair was even more messy than normal and blood was smeared on his right cheek.

If he noticed it, it didn't bother him. He wore his favorite aviator jacket. Next to Nico was a blonde boy that looked strangely familiar but I couldn't place it.

Before they passed me, they abruptly stopped. All three turned to face me, and green smoke bellowed from their eyes and mouths.

Nico spoke, "You shall go west, and face the god who had turned."

The blonde with the orange camp shirt tilted his head before saying, "You shall search for what was stolen, but more is at concerned."

Finally, Leo, with a wide toothy grin, sprouted the last two lines. "You shall be betrayed by the one you least suspect. And you shall fail to deliver on your promise to protect."

The scene began to dissolve. At first, I was too stunned to say anything, but the mist had retreated, slithering into the mummy's mouth.

I was given, my new prophecy. One that had been altered.

My audience with the oracle was over.

 **LINEBREAKDESERVESFRIENDS**

"How was it?" Grover asked, his teeth chittering. I slumped into the bottom step of the staircase. "She said I would go search for what was stolen."

"That sounds optimistic!" Chiron said as he entered the foyer. "But what did the oracle say exactly? That is important."

My ears were still tingling from the reptilian voice. "She said…. I would go west and face the god who had turned, you shall search for what was stolen, but more is at concerned."

Chiron didn't look satisfied. "Anything else?"

I shook my head. The last three lines of the prophecy had been changed.

You shall search for what was stolen, but more is at concern? What was at concern?

You shall be betrayed by the one you least suspect? And you shall fail to deliver your promise to protect?

The lines didn't sound pleasing. It looked like I was in bound for another betrayal.

But who would I least suspect?

Annabeth immediately came to mind, but then Grover or my mom. But then wouldn't I suspect them then? The idea went in circles. Sadly, Mr. D's advice about being careful of who I could trust was sounding awfully nice.

And fail to protect?

Protect who? Can I just not promise, and avoid that line? Nothing came good from purposely avoiding prophecies.

"No," I finally said. "That's about it."

He studied my face. "Very well, Percy Jackson. But know this: the oracle's words often have double meanings. It is best not to dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."

"Agreed," I murmured to myself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," I said quickly. Chiron looked like he wanted to say something, but stopped himself.

"Let us talk about what this was stolen."

And so, Chiron discussed with us the news of Zeus' missing lightning bolt and the complications if it was to fall into the wrong hands. Finally, he pointed the discussion to whom he suspected.

Chiron nodded. "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility."

Grover's mouth dropped to the ground? "Whoa, wait. Who?"

"A Fury came after Percy," Chiron reminded him. "She watched the young man until she was sure of his identity. Furies obey only one lord: Hades."

"Yes, but – but Hades hates all heroes," Grover protested. "Especially if he was found to be a son of Poseidon!"

"And a Minotaur," Chiron continued. "The beast has been locked for centuries as in Hades' greatest cells. He would have to be released to be above world. Hades must have a spy here, someone that told him that we were bringing Percy to camp. He must suspect Poseidon will use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this young half-blood before he can take on a quest."

"Great," I muttered, "That's too major gods who want to kill me."

"But a quest to the…" Grover swallowed. "I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in some place like Maine? Maine's very nice this time of year."

"Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt," Chiron insisted. "He hid it in the underworld, knowing Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretend to understand the Lord of Death's motives personally–"

Looking back on this conversation, Chiron was assuming a lot of stuff.

"– or why he would choose this time to start a war, but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the underworld and find the master bolt and reveal the truth."

 _Great…_

Grover was trembling badly. The poor guy needed to complete a quest with me so he can get his searcher's license.

I sighed. "Okay, where do I start?"

"The entrance of the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age with age, just like Olympus. Of course, now it's in America."

"Cool, I always wanted to visit Hollywood."

Chiron looked surprised that I knew where Hades was, but didn't comment on it. "Yes, it is in the Los Angeles area. Where exactly, I haven't the slightest clue. But make sure too not travel via air. You are the son of the sea god. Your father's bitterest rival is Zeus, lord of sky. If you board an airplane, you would never come back down alive."

Overhead, lightning crackled. Thunder boomed.

"Okay," I said. "So we'll travel overland."

I looked at Grover.

"That's right," Chiron said. "Two companions may…. must accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already volunteered, if you accept her help."

"Gee," I said, remembering I had feigned surprised originally too. "Who else would be idiotic enough to sign to board this train of hopelessness?"

The aim shimmered behind Chiron, and Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap into her back pocket.

"I've been waiting for a long time for a quest, Jackson," she said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."

"If you say so yourself." I said. "I suppose you have a plan Wise Girl?"

Her cheeks colored. "Do you want my help or not?"

"A trio," I brightened. "That'll work!"

"Excellent!" Chiron said, "Tomorrow morning, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own."

"What will I need?" As Annabeth pushed Grover out the door, whispering something to him,

Chiron paused to think, before gaping at himself. "Of course, what am I thinking? I can't let you get away without this."

He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed it to me. It looked like an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, removable cap. Probably cost thirty cents.

"Gee," I croaked. "Thanks so much."

"Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear now. You are the one."

No pressure, though.

I took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier in my hand. In half a second, I held a shimmering bronze blade with a double-edged blade, leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs.

Riptide.

"The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not to get into," Chiron told me. "Its name is Anaklusmos."

"Riptide," I breathed.

"Use it only for emergencies," he warned, "and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, but of course, this sword wouldn't harm them anyways."

"Good to know."

"The sword is Celestial Bronze. It is deadly to monsters, to any creature from the underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion. They are simply not important enough for the blade to kill. And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either celestial weapons or normal ones. You are twice as vulnerable."

I poked myself.

"Now recap the pen."

I touched the cap with Riptide's point, and the blade instantly shrank into its pen form. I shoved it into my pocket.

"You can't." Chiron said.

"What?"

"You can't lose the pen," he explained. "It's enchanted so that it will always reappear in your pocket."

Seeing as we were indoors, I didn't try to throw it. "Okay."

"You're taking everything awfully calm, Perseus."

I shrugged. "Would you rather me run out of here in mass panic?"

He shook his head, before looking out the window. "I wish you had had more training," he murmured, before smiling. "But I am sure you will do splendidly."

"Thanks."

"Well, off you go, Perseus. Get a good night of sleep, we wouldn't want you to be tired on the morning you start your journey."

He ushered me towards the door.

I looked back at him, pausing for a brief moment. "Thanks, Chiron. I – I mean it."

He smiled at me, and I turn around as I stepped through the door, facing a scene I did not expect.

A deserted two laned road. On the other side was a closed down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 1990s movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light and a vividly alluring smell.

The sign above – written in large neon lighted lights read: ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM.

"What does that say?" Annabeth said right behind me, startling me. I found her and Grover both in sweaty and tired with torn shirts and a loose trail that winded through thick woods. The Big House was gone.

What? How?

We were in New Jersey.

* * *

 **What is HAPPENING?! AHHHHHH!**

 **ANNABETH RETURNS: NEXT CHAPTER! Where we find MORE confusion! :D**

 **Best Wishes, from a Junior Scribe of Camp Half-Blood,**

 **~VCRx**

* * *

 **Beta Note:**

 **Hey hey! Soul here! Obviously…Anyways, wow. Just…lots of wow. I have a feeling about the traitor…AND HOW DID THEY GET TO NEW JERSEY? I feel so outta touch with betaing lmao XDD I should start doing this more often :D So, we hoped you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to leave a review (NO FLAMES OR YOU'RE DEAD) at the bottom :) Until next time!**

 **~ Yours in demigoddishness, SoulHorse**

 **[Last Updated: 4.18.17]**


	14. 13: Annabeth

**Replies:**

 _thank you for including so much of Grover, because honestly not a lot of stories include him and he's my favorite enchilada-eating satyr in the world_ _ **–Princess Andromeda II**_

You're welcome…? Haha. I feel Grover doesn't get enough attention in this fandom. I'll let you know he won't be a main character, but he'll appear often.

 _Yes! ANNABETH! Mr. D was so great. I feel like you got him right on point._ _ **–WiseGirlGeek**_

Thank you! I think I like Dionysus this way. :)

 _Also, a few theories: Was Chiron the one who pushed Percy into the future at the end of this chapter? He is a son of Kronos. Or is Percy not actually in New Jersey yet? Another weird thought: Is Chiron the one Percy least expects to betray him? I know I'm asking a lot, and you don't have to answer all of the questions. See you next time!_ _ **–Bass Beast**_

Probably the closest guess yet… Chiron is an interesting suspect….

 _nooooooooo continue with Percy. Plz_ _ **–raging fire storm**_

Hmm….. I'll see what I can do to appease everyone. I have an idea.

 _Awesome! Now I see why you are doing all the book parts, he is in a kind of coma or something right?_ _ **–Thrawn13**_

Dis is what people should start pondering.

 _Please update quicker. There aren't many good time travel fics out there_ _ **–Trunkssan766**_

Cheese and crackers! Has it been that long? *checks date* Holy % #^%$! Its been two months! I better start typing!

* * *

 **-Part One: Pressed-**

 **Chapter 13: ANNABETH**

 **Some formatting problems and then computer problems delayed this chapter by a few days. Sorry.**

 **Also to be clear: since this is replacing** _ **The Lost Oracle**_ **, Leo Valdez hasn't returned to camp and is considered, 'missing in action.' (We all know he went to Ogygia.) So… Thanks!**

* * *

 _ **Last time with Annabeth:**_

" _Everything you have seen has yet to happen," the figure warned. "Your actions and willingness to comply will determine whether I will be merciful…" There was a pause. "Or whether I am not." The figure delved his arm within himself and pulled at another blade from the illusive shadows._

Riptide.

 _With a single blur of movement, the figure swung around and delved Percy's own blade right into his chest._

 _Chuck, the sound of blood bubbled._

'No!' _I tried to scream but my voice became clogged._

" _What was that you were saying Annabeth? I didn't hear you," the figure's voice chanted._

 _I tried to speak once more, but the scene faded._

 **LINEBREAKWELCOMESBACKCHASE**

Sometimes, Annabeth despised how informal council meetings were.

After all, these were where decisions that decided where people lived or died happened. Sometimes – especially the past few years – the fate of the world rested upon the readiness and wisdom that came out of these gatherings, and the decisions made during it.

Despite what Travis Stoll said, the daughter of Athena highly doubted that humanity wouldn't be too horrified if they found out these things were being done around a rickety, rust-stained ping-pong table, with the participants conferring about plans while snacking on Ritz Crackers and Spray-On Cheese Paste . An image of the Olympian council doing a similar thing for the Summer Solstice crossed her mine, and she shuttered.

If the Olympians did decide the course of humanity over cheese and crackers… the thought didn't settle nicely in her stomach.

But today, Annabeth was glad for the diminishment in tension – listening to Thalia's humming of 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' – and the scratchy, yet energetic singing of Leo's horrible single, Hot Babe McShizzle, which he had installed into the Pac-Man machine to play in place of its normal theme song – and even the nervous tapping of her foot under the table. The clashing sounds soothed her. As the counselors filed into the room, she couldn't help but loosen from her straight stance. The smiles, however depressed they were, made her want to smile back. She breathed in, drooping her shoulders to a more natural state. The anxiety within her almost melted away, flowing out from her foot, whose taps slowed in tempo.

Tricket the satyr walked around carrying a large tray of snacks, like a concessions seller in the stands. Almost every demigod took something. When the satyr walked by her, she appreciatively accepted a Caprisun as her throat felt dry.

As the meeting readied to start, Thalia went to the Pac-Man machine to unplug it, but Annabeth waved her friend off from the action. They had a silent staring contest which went something like:

Annabeth: Don't. Its fine.

Thalia: Really? But you hate it when this plays during meetings –

Annabeth: Yeah, I know. But I think we should keep it on today.

Thalia: If you say so, Annie. *shrugs*

Annabeth: Don't call me Annie.

Thalia: We're not even talking, Annie.

Annabeth: I'm the one that's supposed to be logical!

Thalia: Sorry Annie.

"Thanks everyone for showing up. I know that it was quite an inconvenience for all of us to miss lunch for this meeting…" A murmur rippled through the crowd, agreeing with the statement. Since the meeting hadn't been planned, Annabeth had opted to having the meeting during lunch so it didn't interfere with anyone's schedules. Looking over the faces, it was obvious many were a little annoyed by her choice. Luckily, she had gotten Tricket to come in and hand out snacks or there would've been an outright riot…

"But I think we can all agree, that once I've shown you all what we've found, you'll see why we wanted a camp meeting."

"Get on with it!" Clarisse sneered.

"It's about Percy, right?" Holly yawned. "It's always about him."

Many looked at Clarisse and Holly with horrified and offended expressions, but none were surprised by the statements.

Annabeth nodded at Holly's sarcasm. "I know I missed the last meeting which was just a few days ago, because I was well… unconscious, but Piper filled me in. Leo's still missing, but he's sent some scroll that says he went after Calypso. Since then, we've heard no word from him. Percy's missing. The Labyrinth has reappeared. Strange force fields have stopped us from getting out of camp. IM'ing's stopped working. Nico's shadow travel isn't working–"

"Get on with it, you're boring them," Piper nudged her.

Annabeth mentally facepalmed, before continuing, "–And when you all tried to ask the Delphi Oracle for a prophecy, for either the Percy and Leo search, she didn't give you one. What I want to do is ask her again."

A confused look came upon many of the campers' faces, while others whipped their heads around to stare at Rachel Dare, who had been innocently listening to the conversation.

"What makes you think you'll get something different?" Butch asked, eyebrow raised in curiosity. "I mean, besides you know, you always get the quests."

Annabeth shrugged, he had made a good point. "I had a dream. It's hard to describe…"

A mutter went through the crowd and Piper nudged the blonde warningly.

"I forgot to mention. No dreams either. Nothing. Even Clovis has had trouble getting dreams," Piper added.

Annabeth looked towards the dozing fourteen year-old son of Hypnos. The kid was snoring in the corner, while Van was drawing random shapes across his forehead with a Sharpie. Annabeth's vision zoomed in.

Washable.

Not that Clovis would ever notice or care.

"That would've been a good think to have mentioned to me earlier, McLean," Annabeth sighed.

Piper laughed. "Sorry. It kind of slipped my mind."

Annabeth resettled in her seat. The counselors slowly refocused their attention towards her.

"The dream was a threat on Percy's life."

"Isn't that, like every dream?" Damien whistled. "What makes this any different?"

"What makes this different, is that Percy is missing! And – " She proceeded to describe how the shadowy figure had attempted to convince him to join his side, and later made threats. She pulled out the scroll, which she had found earlier that morning, when she had awakened. "We received a ransom for Percy."

Pandemonium erupted in the room. Some freaked out, hugging each other in fear. Others rolled their eyes, seeing it as, yet, 'Another adventure? Can't we ever get peace and quiet?'

Van continued to doodle on Clovis' face.

"Everyone, stop pissing in your panties and listen to Annabeth over here; she's got something to say," Clarisse yelled out to the crowd, quieting them down. "It's my last week before college, and I am not in the mood to leave the place in shambles _or_ be late."

The daughter of Ares looked to Annabeth, before sitting back down. Annabeth paused to let the demigods refocus on her.

"Thanks Clarisse," Annabeth said, leaning forward to spread the scroll wide across the table and used her Caprisun as a paperweight to hold it curling ends down. Campers all around leaned towards the center of discussion.

"Wow, that looks old." Katie Gardener observed, scratching her head at the words.

* * *

 **[The Ransom for reference. :)]**

To receive who's been lost,

You must pay the total cost.

And face much of the past,

before the equinox's surpassed.

Be my demands, you must find:

The Golden Fleece.

A Scarf of Doves.

1qt. Chiseled Victim.

24 hours; Moonlight.

13 Persephonean Seeds.

* * *

"We've had monsters with smug boasts, but never ransoms before," Thalia said, voicing the thoughts of the crowds. "Whoever this person is…"

"But it says, 'to receive who's been lost,'" Will Solace interrupted. "Doesn't this equally apply to Leo as it does Percy?"

The son of Apollo had made a good point.

"The shadow, whoever it was, threatened me," Annabeth argued, "threatened me with a picture of Percy's death. They wouldn't just show Percy if this list wasn't about him."

Annabeth received a few nods of complacency.

Nyssa looked unconvinced. "So we should trust this…potentially Percy's or Leo's detainer's words and what he has shown you? I mean, has this person even given proof they have Percy?"

Nyssa's argument received a few nods of agreement as well.

The conversation moved forward. A few other campers made their own observations and individual comments, but none made good discussion topics.

Finally, the conversation circled back on Will's earlier statements. "We can't just ignore the list. What if Percy or Leo or both are in danger?"

Nyssa squinted at the list. "Let's say we do send a quest to complete this ransom. Golden Fleece. Scarf of Doves. Chiseled Victim. Persephonean Seeds. We all know those. But moonlight! How in Hades do we get moonlight?"

"Annabeth, did the guy say anything about a time limit or where to go?"

Annabeth gaped. "Yes they did! Dawn of the Equinox."

The room became somber. That gave them nearly 4 weeks, a long time by quest standards, but could mean a more difficult quest...

"We're forgetting, that we can't get out of this damn place," Nico said pointedly. He pointed at the walls. "We're trapped at the moment. As mentioned earlier, even shadow traveling hasn't worked…"

"We still haven't sent a scouting party down into the maze yet. They could go down that way and maybe it goes through," Amber Young, daughter of Hebe, suggested.

"Chiron said not to go down there. The place is dangerous. Plus I can sense the Mist from here. The Labyrinth's probably more dangerous now. And we don't even know how it's back up again, yet," Lou Ellen countered.

"He said not to try until Annabeth woke up. Well, here she now! Awake!" Amber shouted.

"That's not what he said – " another demigod argued.

"Everyone, calm down! I think the best course of action at this point is to ask a prophecy from Rachel. Maybe then, everything'll make more sense. Or at least… as much sense as a prophecy can get," Piper reasoned, her words pacifying the campers.

The room silenced, all the campers turning their heads towards Rachel Dare expectantly. Rachel and Annabeth's eyes met, and the daughter of Athena nodded thankfully.

"Okay. Prophecy. Umm… let's go," Rachel mumbled, mostly to herself, before closing her eyes and swooning in her seat. Will, being right next to her, righted her before she could fall off her stool, and next to him, Nico glared, almost jealously.

The room filled vibrating rattles and the soft hisses of snakes. Green mist formed in the air around Rachel and began to swirl around her feet.

When she opened her eyes, her eyes were glowing, like luminescent balls of foggy jade. Green smoke issued from her mouth, following it, a voice that sounded scratchy, rough and ancient.

" _Five shall dive into the depths of the maze,_

 _Led by the lights of the fallen sun's rays._

 _Flame and Shadows, united shall disperse,_

 _The mightiest of those who bring all curse._

 _Owl, Eagle & Dove, take flight to the keys,_

 _To the lost hero's mind, for when it bleeds._

 _Passed & returned. Another must reprimand,_

 _For all of those who had followed command._

 _Bring forth the tide, the shade must rise,_

 _Else Olympus shall meet, its final demise…"_

On that ever ominous note, Rachel collapsed, drooping herself over the son of Apollo, who pulled her up and readjusted her until he was holding her bridal style. Nico glared even more.

"I'll let her have some rest in the guest room. That prophecy sounded like a doozy," Will said, before carrying the Oracle of Delphi out into the hallway. The lone child of Hades in the room followed suit.

"Well. At least we know we have a quest, and where it should go," Thalia muttered, breaking the moment of stunned silence.

Then there was an explosion, and the walls of the rec room rocked back and forth, as if the Big House was in the midst of a hurricane. Annabeth blinked, somehow recognizing it as a sonic boom, and lunged across the table and over the heads of several campers, before landing and running out the door. She had no idea what had taken over her, but she knew this was going to be part of her quest.

She pushed through the foyer door, out into the front patio, where she was in time to witness a very familiar looking red convertible Maserati Spyder – enveloped in smoke – tumbled out of sky, very vivid screams which were muffled by a dying engine filled the skies. The vehicle was rapidly losing altitude.

Annabeth raced down the steps and jumped over the fencing, before her feet hit gravel. She was at the scene within seconds.

Many of the campers, who had been lounging near the lake or on the dock had made their way there first.

Annabeth dragged on stopped her feet when there was a GLURP! And the godly vehicle was swallowed up by the lake water. Then, like a ragdoll, a blonde boy covered in seaweed was through out of the water, like the lake had eaten him and gotten indigestion. He fell down from the sky and landed face first into the sand at her feet.

The daughter of wisdom was stunned beyond belief, before she was suddenly jerked to the side. She was about to yell at the offender, before seeing it was Will. Will darted to the crumpled form, and pushed the boy to his side, his face – covered in soot, and bleeding – came into view. The resemblance between the boy and Will was undeniable.

"Da – Dad?" Will's voice croaked.

* * *

 **What I always found strange about the council meetings in the books is that there was almost never any argument or actual discussion involved. I've looked through all the books, and every time, Rick focuses on the main heroes and it always ends up being 'EVERYONE! LISTEN TO WHAT HAPPENED ON THE QUEST! NOW SHUT UP AND ACCEPT EVERYTHING SINCE THEY'RE RIGHT.' and I thought that was kind of lip service to what an actual argumentative conference it should be. Almost no one else ever pitched in. (With exception to Drew at the beginning of TLH.) Rick did some of that at the senate meeting in Camp Jupiter, so I used that as a template. Of course, greekified.**

 **Before you guys ask, yes, Apollo is going to be in this story, and was already part of the plot even before Blood of Olympus was released. Pure coincidence, Uncle Rick also followed the path of mortal Apollo.**

 **Anyway, thanks for waiting. I plan on updating more consistently after AP testing.**

 **Best Wishes, from a Junior Scribe of Camp Half-Blood,**

 **~VCRx**

* * *

 **Beta Note:**

 **Hiyo everyone! Beta Soul here! Quite the drama filled chapter, wouldn't you say? I hope you guys enjoyed and all ;) Don't forget to leave a review! Until next time!**

 **Yours in demigoddishness, SoulHorse**

* * *

 **[Last Edited: 4.27.2017]**


	15. 14: Nico

**Replies:**

 _Woah. My question is how the heck do you come up with these prophecies? Anyway, very intriguing chapter. I'll just mention I found a mistake/ typo in the legit second sentence of the story. But that's because I notice every small thing XD_ _ **-Impossiblethings12**_

Prophecies…. Are hard. Took me a whole week to of playing with words to even get a rough draft of what I wanted it to say. You have to know what you want to say, play with the words and make the flow. Rhymes are key, so try to end your phrases with words that have a lot of other words that rhyme with it.

 _This is awesome! Please keep it up! More percy! or else! (This is a hammer, watch your awesome grammar. I'm a poet, and I don't even know it, but my toes show it!_ _ **-Thrawn13**_

Smooottttthhhh. As for more Percy…. :)

 _Yay! You're back! It has been WAY too long, VCR. I loved this chapter. That's a very interesting sounding prophecy you got there. I can't wait to find out what happens next. And you better not leave us hanging for two months again. See you (hopefully soon) with the next chapter. Bye! -_ _ **Bass Beast**_

Uh… sowwy about this delay?

 _You really got your footing during the action sequence at the end here. You've already heard me say this, but nice cliff hanger! :D -_ _ **JFlashandClash**_

Thanks dude! :p

 _awesome story surpasses shattered with is 7/10 while yours is 9.9/10 and is also very interesting_ _ **-Guest**_

This made me laugh. Thanks whoever wrote that. xD

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Nico**

 **What was hard this chapter was finding the right flow to portray a mortal Apollo, to be exact, how I** _ **want**_ **him to be portrayed. Frankly, I don't like how Apollo is written in ToA.**

* * *

Nico was beginning to regret signing up for waitress duty.

He could see the images in his mind: the mocking gestures he'd receive now. All he needed was a dainty, cute waitress' dress, and he'd be good to go. The image wasn't very flattering.

Luckily everyone else was still at the pavilion, enjoying their food.

Precariously balancing three platters of brisket as he pushed his way through the doors to the infirmary, he couldn't help but feel that maybe he could've put his time into doing something more productive.

Annabeth and Piper had went to collect supplies for their quest.

Thalia had went to get the fleece.

The past week had been absolutely dreadful. He'd been stuck doing nothing.

After he'd spent the past few years traveling, the loss in motion was draining on his barely existent energy.

He'd been hoping that with the prophecy in their hands, they'd get going. Have something to do.

After Apollo fell from the sky, the campers had made a quick decision in the mad scramble.

The prophecy said that 5 people should delve into the maze.

But several people were mentioned. Eagle, Owl, Dove, Flames, Shadows, and Fallen Sun.

Nico knew he missed a few years of schooling, but he was pretty sure that those were six names.

Eagle was Thalia. She was the lone child of Zeus, with Jason not being here.

Nico hoped Jason was okay.

Owl? Annabeth got the prophecy. No question about it.

Dove was most likely going to be Piper. It wasn't the first time Piper was referred to as 'the dove' and none of the other Aphrodite kids were anxious to go on a quest...unless it meant finally getting outside to make sure they were up to date with fashion trends.

The camp's lone pyromaniac was currently MIA.

Nico thought about the battle against Gaea.

Leo had disappeared in the chaotic aftermath of Gaea's defeat. If only the foolish augur hadn't listened to his father, Nico could've somehow prevented it and helped Octavian see another way. His actions had pulled him down the past few weeks.

Percy had tried convincing him otherwise, but Nico's conscience would never rest.

Nico had sensed Leo's death, but when he had ventured down to check on the heroic son of Hephaestus, his trip to the underworld revealed no bared fruit.

Leo had died, but it was possible he had been revived. Still, Nico didn't know if Leo was alive.

For all he knew, somehow Gaea's overpowering explosion could've vaporized more than just Leo's form...

Fallen Sun was becoming pretty obvious.

If...no, _when_ , Apollo wakes up, we have to break the news to him that he was going to have to lead them into the labyrinth.

Nico has only had the pleasure of meeting the sun god on a few occasions, but every time…

"Nico," Will whispered, shaking him out of his thoughts.

Will looked at him, smiling.

"Thanks for grabbing me some grub."

Nico attempted to refrain from blushing. He set the dishes down.

Will turned.

The two demigods looked down at the sun god.

Nico tittered at the image. It was deja vu.

Apollo looked nineteen, tall and muscular, like a swimmer (or an archer). The sun god looked exactly the way as he did four years ago when Nico was first welcomed to Camp Half-Blood.

The son of Hades frowned at the memories, pushing them away before he could be enveloped in them. The past was the past.

"How is he?" Nico spoke.

The son of Hades considered stepping closer to Will, but decided against the gesture.

Will sighed stressfully. "I'm not sure, whatsoever."

Will paused, before pointing at the bed.

"That's… my dad right there. A god and the only thing I can tell is that he is way too pale and unconsc-"

Apollo moaned, catching the two by surprise.

"Fa - Apollo," Will said.

"I...uh..."

Apollo coughed, and groaned groggily.

He tried to sit up but paled significantly from the strain.

A clenching of obvious pain rippled his face, but he sat up anyway. "What day is it?"

Will looked at Nico.

"August 22nd?" Nico offered.

Apollo heaved, pulling himself up, but failed to get the energy to.

Apollo's face was beaded with sweat, which wasn't something that you'd usually see from a god.

He gripped his side in pain.

"Chiron - I need Chiron here now. And the heroes. We must gather a quest."

Will broke his frozen state and tried to ease Apollo back onto his bed, which he allowed as Nico reached for the big call button.

"Dad," Will started unsure of what to say next.

He decided upon, "You need rest."

Apollo gave in and allowed Will to run to the sink and soaked a towel with quick swiftness, before returning to dab at Apollo's feverish head.

"Annabeth Chase. And that Poseidon child – Perseus or something – it's a quest of the highest magnitude."

"You remember Annabeth's name?" Nico stated, skeptical.

"Of course," Apollo said, rather pretentiously.

"She built many statues of me up on Olympus. It is the least I can do."

Will tried to smile.

"Annabeth is out gathering supplies for a qu-"

"Quest!" Apollo interrupted. "Yes! You demigods are so brilliant, you already know when I will call upon you for a quest!"

"We already have one."

"I demand another one! Get all your best heroes. Percy Jackson, where is he?"

"He's missing."

"I need him to-"

Apollo sat up. His eyes grew big.

"You said he was what?"

"Missing," Nico articulated.

"Missing…" Apollo blinked. "By Daphne's eyes..."

Chiron stampeded into the room with swiftness.

When the centaur laid his eyes on Apollo, he bowed.

"Lord Apollo."

"Chiron," Apollo acknowledged.

"We have the utmost important business to attend to. Olympus was attacked last night."

"Attacked?" Chiron said.

Apollo looked as if he wanted to stop talking right there.

"Zeus wanted a meeting. For what, I wasn't told," he shrugged. "So, I thought, if it wasn't important enough to be said, why bother showing up?"

Chiron had a disapproving look on his face, and Apollo glanced at it and grimaced slightly.

"But I end up going anyway, just showing up late. I expected to find Father being Father: the normal bickering between Hades and Poseidon, but instead I found no one… Olympus was wrecked. The throne room, in ruins, and there was no one, _no one,_ to be found."

He looked around at us.

"Ahem, then I of course, valiantly strode around searching for evidence of what happened. Let me whim up a haiku to show my bravery. _Apollo strode forth, ashes at his feet -"_

Chiron coughed.

Apollo sighed, relentingly. "I admit, I… might've tactically retreated, as Athena might say. In my defense, I didn't know what to do!"

"Lord Apollo, this is bad," Chiron stated.

"Very, very, bad, indeed."

Chiron stomped around in contemplation. "Perseus' disappearance, the Camp's recent ordeals and now your news Apollo. If Olympus has fallen…" Chiron's expression was something Nico had never seen in the many years he'd known the centaur. It was tokened with fear. "We must act fast, Olympus doesn't simply fall. Especially with silence; no war, no storms."

"Well, we haven't had much of contact with the outside world as it is…. so…."

* * *

 **Shorter chapter, but after fiddling around with what's next, I don't think Nico is the right POV to see it from.**

 **Quest next chapter.**

 **I'd like to put my super thanks to Impossiblethings12 for betaing while my two normal betas are not available. She helped me with the second ending of the chapter, which I had much trouble with. Looks like she isn't leaving a B/N so I guess that's it...**

 **Later peeps. ~VCRx**


	16. 15:

_Uh oh! I am glad to see that you are going to be updating more often. But remember, write first for yourself. Some will always hate it._ _ **-Trawn14**_

But I'll hate myself if I don't write. JK, I always hate myself. :)

 _The Hestia part the last thing she said makes it sound like he will turn evil from what I first read of it I had to go over it like 100000000 times to see that I could mean he would become a Hero soon. Love your story._ _ **-Riptide81**_

I was actually writing this chapter when you sent me that review. So…. hope you like? Mhm?

 _Ok ok I think the bad guy is Cronos not Kronos not the Titan of time the Primordial of time someone more powerful then Kronos!_ _ **-Riptide81**_

Ok ok. Interesting...

 _So it's not Luke? It's Apollo now I'm getting confused with what I think is going on and what is actually going on man you rock at "Mystery..." Stories well I have to thank you for taking your time and making this story and I have to thank your beta for being your beta_ _ **-Riptide81**_

Tanksssss. I'm sure my betas will like the recognition. *glares at SoulHorse*

* * *

 **Chapter 15: ?!**

 **I'm going to make these chapters a less of a pain in my butt by throwing away my 2000 words requirement. It was ruining my flow. But yea, reveal-y stuff so it's interesting but kinda short. Sowwy.**

* * *

Demigods made such entertaining fodder.

He watched, perched among the shadows of the trees, as the little heroes pranced in confusion as their little ball of disaster - they called a sun god - was mopped by the waves. They flocked to help the defenseless excuse of immortal blood and pulled away the _phoebus_.*

The specter could almost taste the sensation of mortalized ichor. It was absolutely… divine. Or lacking it, if you would. Ha. It was almost worthy enough to allow for a silent smile.

Simply winning is a joke. Letting your foe believe they had won? That was the cherry upon his sundae. These campers would soon regret welcoming Apollo.

Soon.

He'd have to wait, however. There were preparations to be made. Distractions to procure. And it would still take another half-moon to launch Prometheus' side of the scheme.

Admittedly, he wasn't too sure yet of the dreamer's plans. It had taken quite a deal of convincing and tweaking for him to agree to such a plot. It had been far-too convoluted, even for him, but he had to confess that everything has followed exactly as Prometheus had foretold.

There was a buzz. A tingling that sizzled in the back of the shadow's mind. Their hero. It was their great hero. Their Perseus was awakening. No doubt the boy would need to be entertained, as to distract him from reality's dilemmas. It would be unfortunate for him to make an appearance before the grand show.

"You! I've been watching you-" the voice found itself squeezed into silence as the shadow bared its strength upon the on-looker, whose presence was very familiar. A crease splintered in his stoic expression, revealing the first moment of true pleasure he'd experienced in a millennium Without haste, the figure turned his head, bringing insight the goddess of the hearth.

"Hello, Hestia. How have you been doing these last few centuries?"

The question was met with a silent squeak - a possible side effect of his shadows holding her down by the throat. The goddess looked up at him helplessly with frightened eyes as she tried to flash away without success. He loosened his tendrils just enough for her to gasp for air.

She coughed. "You… Why… How."

He laughed. "I fear, you are mistaking me for someone else, my little _oikos._ "**

Her eyes bled with confusion before switching to a terrified recognition. "No.. it cannot be. You were... you can't possibly be back."

"Oh my dear Hestia, you think so little of me. Did you truly believe I was vanquished?"

"We hoped," she admitted.

"Hope. Of course. You gods and your hope. An invention after my time, of course - this hope. The thing about hope though, it allows you the illusion that it's on your side. Makes you _believe_ there are chances. It's never on your side. Chances only arrive when planned on. Hope is a sham. And I'm prepared to show all that."

The shadow smirked shades as Hestia continued to struggle against his hold. She pushed out with flames as her warmth sought to counteract her foe's damp darkness.

"I must thank you for sheltering me amongst the sanctuary of your hearth for this long. If you weren't any purer, the _stench_ of your hearth would have never kept me hidden.

" _Polyolbos,_ they say here in America. _The one with many blessings._ It is astonishing how accurate humans can be without having any sort of knowledge!" He laughed mockingly at the goddess at his feet as her flames were continually being dampened as quickly as they were ignited. "You might find your powers useless. Blessings are very dangerous - you see - if they fall into the wrong hands."

She growled at him. "The blessing was never was never meant for _you_ , f-"

Her sentence was cut short as his shadows re-tightened their hold around her throat.

"Did you know? You were my favorite of the _gods._ " He said the last word with exceptional distaste. "You presence always warmed my insides to the brim. Unlike your siblings."

"You know nothing…" she croaked back.

"I know more than you presume," the shadow replied. "For example, a year ago, you happened to tell a particular hero a particular fact about yourself: When necessary, you yield. Very noble words, my dear. But now, it is time we follow up on those words. Will you... yield to me?"

"Never."

He smiled. "You always had that certain flare your siblings lacked. I would have been surprised by any lesser answer. Thank you for your time. I think we're done here."

He waved his hand across her form and commanded her gone. Then, she was.

She won't be the only one.

 **LINEBREAKSAYS#ALLLINESMATTER**

The shadow settled into his throne, deep in consideration of recent advancements. It was too early to be pleased, but as of yet, nothing too vital has had gone off-script.

The demigods march forward into their little maze. The ocean titters over the sands. Meanwhile, the Empire frantics as the clock winds.

"Have we retrieved the Architect?" He demanded the darkness, bored.

"We… are in the process of procuring it, my lord," the shadows muttered. "The River Missouri is giving us difficulties."

"Difficulties?" he grumbled. "Of?"

There was a pause.

"You needn't worry. Your soldiers will not succumb to a few tears."

"Tears?!"

"..."

"Tartarus. You are all incompetent fools. I shall expect the Architect to be tied in front of me by daylight. Time, is not something to waste."

"Yes... my lord."

* * *

' **Thunder' by the Imagine Dragons**

 **Bai! -VCRx**

 **-Mav (Didn't write a single thing, just adding my name to this chapter when VCR isn't looking)**

* * *

 ***Phoebus: youthful strength, bright. A popular reference to Apollo, god of the Sun**

 ****Oikos:** _ **household, home, family. A popular reference to Hestia, goddess of the Hearth**_

* * *

 **This chapter was not betaed.**

* * *

 **[Last Edited: 9/11/17] #NeverForget**


	17. C16: Apollo

**Reviews:**

 _Will Percy be a badass here I desperately wanted to see him be strong in a good story_ _ **– surya25addanki**_

How the hell do I answer this?... Maybe?... I would think so but maybe not yours… But that's a long way away.

 _Oooooooo...I wonder who this mysterious figure is...Anyway, this story is extremely well written and has a great plot! Please update soon because I NEED to know what happens! I just have a couple suggestions: can you make Annabeth more upset that Percy is gone? After all, they went through tarturus together. Also, can you make Percy seem more, like himself in the BOO even though he is in his 12 year old form. And also can you make Percy miss Annabeth, like 16, 17 year old Annabeth. And please just let them remember Tarturus more, because Percy promised Annabeth he'd never leave her, and now they are separated. You don't have to follow my suggestions though, it's only if you want to. Anyway GREAT story, love it!_ _ **-Guest101**_

Thank you so much for this review! I really hope people like that I'm taking something that might feel like copying – ie. "Time traveling back into the original series" – and giving a different type of spoof from the… plentiful other fanfics. After all, if I'm writing the same thing as everyone else, there wouldn't be much mystery, would there? As to your request, yes, this Percy will mentally be seventeen from after Tartarus and the fight against Gaia. So while he's walking through his… past, he will be more stronger and smarter than he was originally, but it also won't matter much. Also yes, I will be writing a lot about Tartarus, although for awhile it'll be more subtle, and I don't plan to fully explore it until Book 2… if that ever comes into fruition.

 _But, but, but, the action, the drama, it's all gone!_ _Nooooooo. How could you. Sits in corner and cries._ _ **-Its-Me-Kiwi**_

I'm staring at my plot drafts, and hope you keep reading! Muahahaha!

* * *

 **-Part One: Pressed-**

 **Chapter 14: Apollo**

* * *

Dreams are strange little things.

Little lost bugs that wander the labyrinth that is the mind. Itchlings that crawl and seep in from the shadows. They embody humanity's aspirations and hopes. They reek of failures and fears.

Dreams are strange little things.

Dreams are shapeless. Molded by their imagineer. They are susceptible to their hosts, just as their hosts of defined by them. They reflect one another. They exist alongside one another. But they are two different souls. Mortals – Mortals are driven by dreams. Dreams aren't driven by mortals. They feed on them. Grow on them, their hosts.

And in return, humanity has grown. Pushed the bounds of what is, and searched for what could be.

This is the power of dreams. For this trait, dreams facilitate change.

Without dreams, there would be only now. Never a past. Never a future. Existence is held at a standstill.

Dreams are strange little things.

Dreams are shy. Dreams are out-going. Dreams will frighten. Dreams allow courage. Dreams can't be confined. Can't be touched. Just molded, like an unshapen tool. A very blunt – intangible tool.

They simply are: Strange little things. Hatched, filled with ideas and plots that power the little minds that make humanity human.

They watch. They wait. The inspire. Those dreams.

It's what separates those who have power, and those who can do nothing but watch.

Those silly, strange little things.

 **LINEBREAK**

 _For once in so many millennia, the god Apollo wished everyone's eyes were on anything_ but _him._

 _Apollo shivered, chains of moonshine silver dangling from his wrist like shackles. The minor gods and fodder alike paused from their normalities on the side streets, switching from subtle glances to more mild intrigue._

 _After all, it was a rare event indeed to see an Olympian marched in chains through the public squares of Mt. Olympus. Every detail of the spectacle was utterly humiliating. Wretchedly so, one unfit for an awesome god as himself on all accounts._

 _The charade that was his procession was simple, yet cruel. Marched bare foot in a heavy toga, an ellipse of his beautiful nine muses, clad in elegant matching sunflower dresses herded him forward. Each reluctantly held one of the nine ends to ἀγκυρουχία, the chain that holds gods. All silent, and looked away when his gaze fell upon him._

 _His heart ached, knowing his muses thought he'd blame them for their situation. His precious muses, his little angels – forced as his handlers – could never enrage him. It dismayed him – if that was the right term – to see them have that little faith in him. His father must've known this how it'd turn out._

 _Well - there was that time in Budapest… and Baghdad and the fiascos in Perth and Constantinople. Those had been just minor squabbles though._

 _What jerked him were the many whispers that surrounded him, among the hordes._

 _There were many curses of being a god, one being the enhanced senses. There were many mumblings and whispers, which were mainly just etiquette learnt from mortals. The static thumbed in his head, and he strained to block them out. It was easy to ignore the world below, but when there were hundreds of godlings in front of you won't stop yapping?_

 _Apollo pushed himself to put on his normal mask of confidence that many often saw him wore, the one of a relaxed, no-worries-about, cheerful surfer who'd just shredded a good day's of waves, while he half-blocked out, half intently listening to the murmuring around him._

 _There were whispers, which spoke of their mighty, humble, charismatic, beloved, sun god in chains. How sacrilege of an act it was to contain such awesomeness in chains. He couldn't agree more with those._

 _But there were the others that laughed silently at Apollo's slow precession. Laughed as their sun god was practically dragged as entertainment at jeerers, for a punishment undeserved. And they knew he could hear their mutterings. He tried to single out voices, hoping to make a hit-list for_ when _his punishment was over. But there were too many voices, and the chains hampering the more potent parts of his powers blurred his focus._

 _Whatever the case, Apollo was used to gossip and mocking to some extent. Every god had to, lest they'd cause Apocalypse a few more times than would be healthy for the earth. The main punctures to his pride laid in the eyes._

 _He tried shifting his gaze from the crowds, then with panic, realized his mask of confidence had faded a while ago. He closed his eyes, and breathed, trying to find some stability._

 _Gods didn't need to breathe. The gods were after all, all-powerful immortal abstractions. But the motion had grown into habit, another purposeless gesture that accumulated after millennia of mirroring humanity. But it sure did help clam him at times._

 _Closed lenses didn't amount to a good permanent solution. What was he? Blind? He opened them, but wrestled with his options on where to focus on. The crowds weren't a possibility. The sun-draped sky above sickened him at the loss of his freedom to venture through the skies. The chains at his feet, and the marble slabs didn't do much better. Two sides of the same shiny drachma._

 _Finally, his eyes laid at the sight in front of him. Leading the misery that was this march was none other than his younger sister Artemis. His mirror was personified today as a young woman with flowing red hair and curves that would've rivaled Aphrodite's. Tall and sleek, walking with attentive grace, the goddess of the moon was cloaked in a ceremonial silver chiton, with her signature bow on her back. Her dress was modest in Olympian standards, but Apollo suspected the dress that their father had request her to wear for the charade revealed too much shoulder for Artemis' liking. He wondered if that could've attributed to her older choice of appearance today._

 _Less unholy thoughts, having a youth be clad is such a sultry gown._

 _The chains tightened around him. He blinked, realizing they had slowed. They had past the city and were now upon the steps of the Main Hall._

 _He had space out, not sure to be relieved._

 _How long had he been looking at her? Artemis turned her shoulder, peering at him. Her silver crescent eyes were full of resignation and worry._

' _Father isn't overly joyed, having to rely on our mortal children twice in a century,' Artemis' voice murmured quietly in his head, stating the obvious. 'His mood has become… foul since Augustus. You mustn't give him any more reason to punish you.'_

 _Apollo sighed inwardly. The whole trial was so unfair. Complete nonsense._

 _It had been Apollo who had aided the son of Hephaestus in formulating his plans to defeat Gaea! He should be celebrated if anything. Not be confined by this anchor–_

' _I will do what I can to urge father of not going through this trial, brother. We were both on Delos, forlorn in our attempts to aid the Demigods against the forces of Gaea's giants. We both were aware of the implications if–" Artemis stopped suddenly, and it wasn't until then when he realized she was switched to speaking out loud. Her jawline tightened with consideration. And sorrow._

 _His sister Artemis was one of the few Olympians that maintained regular contact with mortals; in the form of her band of hunters. They were immortal, yes, but their spilled blood was still red, their lives still at the mercy of sharpened steel._

 _While the sun and the moon laid in Delos incapable to do anything except watch, the giant Orion had picked apart Artemis' huntress in San Juan._

 _The deaths of the war reminded Apollo why he stayed away from mortals as much as possible. There were slings, of course, but connections with humans – they were messy at best. The endings were filled with too much pain for the cost of temporary bliss._

 _He could only imagine the ache that roared within Artemis, the only window in being her on-edge silver eyes._

' _Phoebus, are you sure you want to go through this?' Artemis finally said after some time, her voice cracking. His sister rarely used his other name. In fact, she hadn't done so in many centuries. It only came from her as an endearment, which he rarely earned._

 _Apollo closed his eyes and cocked his head. 'We already discussed this, Arty,' he murmured in her head._

 _Even with his eyes closed, he sensed his sister nodding hesitantly. They've fought about_ it _for the last week._

 _It being that_ she _had convinced him to give that son of Hephaestus the Physician's cure._

 _The goddess of the moon tilted her head back and seemed to look beyond him for a moment, as if she was worlds away. Her starry eyes distant, yet dejected at the same time. 'Thank you,' she finally, admitting defeat, too weary to argue with his one last time, before flashing away in a soundless sparkle of shower of silver lights._

 _The horns of Olympus sounded and the doors swung, into the hall of the gods._

 _The muses began their march once more, and Apollo bit his inner-lip before following their lead._

 _The other eleven Olympians sat perched on their respective thrones as his muses led his way into the grand chamber of the gods. Half of them looked bored out of their minds after hours of what he presumed meetings that he had the pleasure of not needing to attend._

 _Zeus clapped his hands together, gaining the attention of the gods. Dionysus had to poke snoring Ares with a grapevine to jitter the god of war awake._

" _What?" Ares brought his head up, wiping off the drool on his chin. He glared at the god of wine, before realizing everyone was staring at him. "Oh, another one," he grumbled, before adjusting his posture._

 _Zeus continued to scrutinize Ares for a moment longer before shifting his gaze to Apollo. "We are here, today, to judge my son Apollo. For breaking the ancient laws that we all swore upon, and giving the modern world access to the Physician's cure."_

 _A few gods grumbled in acknowledgement, before Athena decided to begin the discussion. "Apollo's actions were reckless at best," the goddess of wisdom assessed, "Placing something as valuable as the Physician's cure into the hands of mortals, could have had irreversible consequences."_

" _It was a necessary risk," Poseidon intervened, "the giants were at the doorstep of Olympus. Gaea was awakening. If you knew your child was the one being sacrificed, wouldn't you find some way to save them from death's grasps?"_

 _The god of the seas gave a pointed look towards Zeus, an obvious referral to Thalia's tree._

 _Hephaestus tapped his throne at the words, while Zeus scowled._

" _The comparison doesn't account for the fact that in the case of Thalia Grace," Athena argued, tackling Poseidon's argument, "revival isn't repeatable. A cure… one that could be reproduced, is an endangerment to the balance of civilization. I move to vote._

" _I concur," Hera eyed Apollo with disgusted glance. The queen of the gods had always hated him. No surprise there. "Apollo risked order. I propose loss of immortality."_

 _Zeus nodded at the counsel._

Shit.

 _Artemis' silver gaze shoved daggers down his throat, telling him to stay quiet before speaking. "At that moment in the war, the odds did not look in our favor. Our children were at war. Monsters control the vast majority of the continent. Even Camp Jupiter fe–"_

" _But the cure did nothing to actually aid our heroes, did it? Was it required in the fight against Gaea? The search for its ingredients only delayed the quest, allowing the Giants to prepare in Athens," Athena pointed out. "The builder, Leo Valdez, could've done just the same against Gaea without it."_

 _Ares smiled. "Boom."_

 _Hephaestus glared at Athena. "We cannot speak of our children like toys, Athena."_

" _Since when did you being to sympathize with humans, tinkerer?" Demeter interjected, curious._

" _Hephaestus is right," Hermes spoke up, "Our troubles this century… started with neglect. It would be wrong for to stay distant, when we are able to commit aid."_

 _Artemis took advantage of the lead in. "The tide of the war did not look favorable. Our children were at war. Us gods were incapacitated. The giants were at Olympus' doorsteps, and Gaea was on the verge of awakening. My and Apollo's decision, was one well thought out and weighed to be at our advantage and worth the prospect of the mentioned consequences. We should not punish Apollo."_

 _Zeus actually perked up at hearing Artemis defend Apollo._

 _"Ares?"_

 _"War is war," Ares shrugged, and for once, Apollo was glad it was Ares that sat on that throne instead of Mars. "Gaea comes by swinging, why can't we bring out the entire arsenal?"_

" _Why I think Apollo's de-godifying would be simply divine," Aphrodite grinned, nudging her not so secret lover. "Think of all the drama that could come of it!"_

 _Ares frowned, but nodded at the goddess of love's words._

 _Dionysus looked pained, realizing he was the only god to not put in any input. "I can care less about the children and the drama."_

 _Zeus looked around at the council looking to see if any of the gods had anything left to say, before calling for a vote. "All those who agree that Apollo should loss his immortality for the foreseeable future?"_

 _There was a raise of hands. Seven hands were raised. There was no need to count the nay votes._

 _Zeus sighed, "We will assess the duration another time. Fates allowed, we are lucky to divert catastrophe. Gaea is defeated, and the son of Hephaestus had failed to drink the concoction. With the knowledge of the recipe out of mortal hands, we can consider parole, if we see acts of valor._

 _Apollo tried to keep his expression blank on that last sentence. Zeus gave curt glances at both the fire and death gods, the latter of which had been silently sitting in the corner, watching the debate with deep scrutiny, now seemed distractedly fiddling with the ring on his hand._

 _The last time the sun god had checked, the fiery son of Hephaestus had survived, albeit sent to a place with no escape._

 _Which meant one thing._

 _Hades lied to him._

 _Apollo turned back to his twin's throne, spying how his sister's mind was racing to take in this development._

 _Apparently, Athena hadn't been notified of Leo Valdez's true fate either, as she didn't look to correct the king of the gods._

 _Aphrodite winked at him._

What in Tartarus had Aphrodite done.

 _No one protested the words came from any of the gods, so Zeus thumped his lightning bolt, in signal for the staff._

 _From nowhere, the fates emerged, holding a staff that was better left unnamed. A staff that could consumed the immortality of the gods._

 _The fates floated down closer towards the god of the sun, with an almost angelic slowness. As the staff neared, Apollo could begin feeling his essence being pulled out from him.*_

 _Apollo closed his eyes, in strain, as he felt his powers being pulled out from under him._

 _The room silences as the ceremony played out._

 _His powers slivered through the air like mist being edged out from him, and by the second, he grew ever more tired._

 _Just when he was about to collapse, it all stopped._

 _Surprised, Apollo tried opening his eyes. The last two times he had loss his immortality he'd collapsed well before all the power within him was pulled out. And indeed, he could feel a last bit of droplets left, of the dried up ocean of power he normally embodied._

 _But his eyelids wouldn't open. He tried his arms, and his legs and moving his head, but none prevailed._

 _The room turned cold, and suddenly, he felt a new presence in the room._

 _A cold breath flowed over the hairs across the back of his neck, before a silent chuckle echoed across the chamber of the gods._

" _Now!"_

* * *

 _ *** I'd like to clarify, the staff, whatever, normally doesn't have the power to pull out a god's immortality but when Apollo is chained by Anchor (the name of the chain), his power is weakened enough for him to be vulnerable.**_

 ***You have become what you swore to destroy!* When I started reading fanfiction, I got really pissed at people who updated irregularly and put their readers through long hiatuses. Now look at me, lmao. For those who write consistently, may I ask: How the hell do you people do it? How do you stay inspired, driven and get through tough chapters? I need help. For the sake of myself and your fellow readers. That being said, I have the pleasure of telling you this document I'm uploading is called ' ' on my computer. Take that as you will.**

 **A few updates about me since we haven't chatted in awhile! – First off, for those who read my story: 'The Prophet's Mansion' I am sadly placing the story on INDEFINITE HIATUS. After the last few months bashing my head into the keyboard, I have to admit to myself, I have lost all motivation and inspiration to continue the story. I might return to it someday, but I don't want to string you guys along that I will. – Instead, I'm going to start uploading the first chapter of a few story ideas throughout December. Depending on the feedback and attention those stories get, I might continue with them, or maybe not. We'll see when we get there. – As for this story, I still got ideas, and the drive. It's just the matter of writer's block and my life being so busy.**

 **Thanks for putting up with my bull. I'll try to pump out another chapter asap to make it up. My quarterly finals are the first week of December, but afterwards, I've cleared out my ENTIRE schedule to write! Assuming I don't get grounded for failing my finals, December should be filled with (said above) updates.**

 **Thanks to SFRG, PraetorFable and PHO3N1XSLAY3R for the help on getting me pumped to write again.**

 **Adieu!**

 **~VCRx**

 **[This chapter was unbetaed.]**

 **[Last Edited: 16.11.2018]**


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